Chasms: Geography of Mars, photographed by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 29th April 2007.
Detail from a photograph of the intersection of Hyblaeus and Elysium Chasma, south west of Elysium Mons. Taken with HiRISE.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/UoA.
Weird Glacier-like features on Mars
Glacier-like features are seen around Mars, but only in the Hellas Basin do they look like this picture taken by the HiRISE camera! Why do they look different? No one knows.
(Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
I’m going to try something new on the Planetary Science Tumblelog today:
3D Thursday!
Space Missions take lots of pictures and they often take them close together. By overlapping two close images, we can make an anaglyph. Since Space is full of 3D stuff, we have lots to cover. Today PlanetSci will bring you two anaglyphs from Mars with NASA’s HiRISE Imager. So get out your red-cyan glasses!
This beautiful image shows Yardangs, which are created on Earth as wind carves sandstone into tall mounds. Even if you don’t have 3D specs, you should still check this picture out in 2D!
(Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)
Hematite in Capri Chasma (por Lunar and Planetary Institute)
Crystalline gray hematite (Fe2O3) was first detected on Mars using the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES). The landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity was chosen at one of these hematite sites in Meridiani Planum. After landing and driving around on the surface, scientists discovered that the hematite occurred in millimeter-size rounded particles that were concentrated along the upper surfaces of the soils. In this HiRISE image taken within Capri Chasma, TES also detected the same crystalline gray hematite like that found at Meridiani Planum. The enhanced-color image shows a red surface, consistent with a material that contains the element iron. The plains here are similar to those seen at Meridiani Planum and suggest that hematite-rich particles are concentrating on the upper soils where they can be detected from orbit by TES.
