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Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter (MGS) of Hellas Planitia, Mars
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Hellas Planitia
PIA06944
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
18 October 2004 The best time of year to obtain images of the floor of the vast Hellas Planitia impact basin occurs in mid to late southern autumn. At that time of year, the atmosphere over this deep basin is clear and the solar illumination conditions are ideal. Hellas was in this ideal period during July-September 2004. This August 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the eroded floor of a portion of the basin. Hellas has some of the lowest elevations on the planet. This image is located near 39.3°S, 302.8°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. |
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Strange Surfaces of Hellas P
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PIA03210
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Strange Surfaces of Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Sometimes Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images show things that look very bizarre. Unique among the MOC images is a suite of pictures from northwestern Hellas Planitia, such as the example shown here. The seeming familiarity of many MOC images, such as those showing Earth-like sand dunes or stream-like gullies might give the impression that it is pretty easy to understand what MOC images are telling us about the geology of Mars. Indeed, much of what has been found by MOC is both interpretable and profound--layers recording the planet's early geologic history, evidence for recent groundwater emerging at the surface, dust storms and frost patterns that indicate seasonal change. However, many martian landforms remain unexplained and may require years of study. This picture, acquired in late October 2000, appears to be a jumble of plates or layers exposed at the surface but subsequently covered by a thin mantle to give the scene a uniform brightness. What are these materials? Perhaps time and careful study will tell. The picture is illuminated from the upper left and covers an area 2.9 by 4.1 km (1.8 by 2.5 mi) near 39.7°S, 306.7°W. |
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Mid-Winter Dust Storms Near
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PIA03222
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mid-Winter Dust Storms Near Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
One of the primary objectives for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during the Extended Mission is to continue daily monitoring of martian weather as expressed in clouds, dust storms, and patches of polar frost. During the Primary Mission, which lasted from March 1999 through January 2001, changes that occurred over a single martian year (687 Earth days) were observed. Now it is possible to see what the martian atmosphere will do for at least two-thirds of a second martian year, because the Extended Mission will run into April 2002. This picture captures two dust storms, each large enough to cover Arizona or New Mexico. One is located near the lower left, the other at the lower right. Taken on April 8, 2001 (mid-southern winter), this is a mosaic of six MOC daily global images centered around Hellas Planitia in the martian southern hemisphere. Hellas Planitia is the dominant elliptical feature just below the center of the picture. The bright, nearly white surfaces along the lower (southern) edge of the picture are covered by wintertime frost. The strong temperature difference between the winter frost and the warmer air just off the edge of this polar cap generates winds that--at this time of year--are often strong enough to lift dust into large, reddish-brown, billowy clouds. North is up and sunlight illuminates the area from the upper left. The martian equator forms the arc along the top of the picture, 500 kilometers (km) is equal to about 311 miles. The approximately 500 kilometer-wide circular feature just above the center is the crater Huygens. |
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Hellas Planitia
PIA04723
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-471, 2 September 2003 Hellas Planitia is the floor of a giant basin that originally formed by the impact of a large comet or asteroid at a very early time in martian history. Throughout most of the martian year, Hellas is a difficult target for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) because it is often dusty and cloudy. The best time of year to observe Hellas Planitia occurs during the southern autumn season. The most recent best-time-of-year for Hellas imaging occurred in September and October 2002. This is a wide angle red camera image obtained in October 2002 that shows a large portion of Hellas Planitia at a scale of about 245 meters (268 yards) per pixel. The image covers an area about 290 km (180 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. |
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Hellas Planitia
PIA04783
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-505, 6 October 2003 Northwest Hellas Planitia presents an array of strange-looking surfaces. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows an example near 39.3°S, 306.7°W. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Some of the banding apparent in this image may be related to layering, but the overall cause for the patterns remains elusive. Hellas Basin is a difficult place to obtain MOC high resolution images, because for most of the year it is cloudy. The clouds clear up and imaging opportunities are spectacular in southern autumn, the time of year that this image was obtained. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. |
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Tongue-Shaped Flow Feature i
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PIA09594
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Tongue-Shaped Flow Feature in Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_002320_1415 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002320_1415 ]) captures a tongue-shaped lobate flow feature along a interior crater wall located in eastern Hellas Planitia. The flow feature is approximately 5 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide with a partial double inner ridge and raised outer margin. The flow feature's surface is generally devoid of impact craters and parts of its outer margin have deflected around obstacles. Similar flow features, though not as distinctively tongue-shaped as this one, are found in many other craters throughout the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. Recent studies of these flow features have determined a latitudinal dependence to which side of the crater interior these features are formed upon. For this particular flow feature, it has formed on the pole-facing slope. This polar or equatorial-facing preference has implications for the amount of solar isolation these slopes are receiving, which may be a result of recent climate change due to shifts from low to high obliquity. Although these Martian flow features may have Earth analogs such as rock glaciers, uncertainty remains as to what types of fluvial, glacial and mass-wasting processes are involved in their formation. This particular flow feature was imaged previously by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. Observation Geometry Acquisition date:1 January 2007 Local Mars time: 3:46 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -38.1 ° Degrees longitude (East): 113.2 ° Range to target site: 255.2 km (159.5 miles) Original image scale range: 25.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~77 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 9.4 ° Phase angle: 75.0 ° Solar incidence angle: 67 °, with the Sun about 23 ° above the horizon Solar longitude: 171.9 °, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. |
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Tongue-Shaped Flow Feature i
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PIA09594
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Tongue-Shaped Flow Feature in Hellas Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_002320_1415 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_002320_1415 ]) captures a tongue-shaped lobate flow feature along a interior crater wall located in eastern Hellas Planitia. The flow feature is approximately 5 kilometers long and 1 kilometer wide with a partial double inner ridge and raised outer margin. The flow feature's surface is generally devoid of impact craters and parts of its outer margin have deflected around obstacles. Similar flow features, though not as distinctively tongue-shaped as this one, are found in many other craters throughout the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. Recent studies of these flow features have determined a latitudinal dependence to which side of the crater interior these features are formed upon. For this particular flow feature, it has formed on the pole-facing slope. This polar or equatorial-facing preference has implications for the amount of solar isolation these slopes are receiving, which may be a result of recent climate change due to shifts from low to high obliquity. Although these Martian flow features may have Earth analogs such as rock glaciers, uncertainty remains as to what types of fluvial, glacial and mass-wasting processes are involved in their formation. This particular flow feature was imaged previously by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) onboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. Observation Geometry Acquisition date:1 January 2007 Local Mars time: 3:46 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -38.1 ° Degrees longitude (East): 113.2 ° Range to target site: 255.2 km (159.5 miles) Original image scale range: 25.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~77 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 9.4 ° Phase angle: 75.0 ° Solar incidence angle: 67 °, with the Sun about 23 ° above the horizon Solar longitude: 171.9 °, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. |
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