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Giant Landslide on Iapetus
| Description |
Giant Landslide on Iapetus |
| Full Description |
A spectacular landslide within the low-brightness region of Iapetus's surface known as Cassini Regio is visible in this image from Cassini. Iapetus is one of the moons of Saturn. The landslide material appears to have collapsed from a scarp 15 kilometers high (9 miles) that forms the rim of an ancient 600 kilometer (375 mile) impact basin. Unconsolidated rubble from the landslide extends halfway across a conspicuous, 120-kilometer diameter (75-mile) flat-floored impact crater that lies just inside the basin scarp. Landslides are common geological phenomena on many planetary bodies, including Earth and Mars. The appearance of this landslide on an icy satellite with low-brightness cratered terrain is reminiscent of landslide features that were observed during NASA's Galileo mission on the Jovian satellite Callisto. The fact that the Iapetus landslide traveled many kilometers from the basin scarp could indicate that the surface material is very fine-grained, and perhaps was fluffed by mechanical forces that allowed the landslide debris to flow extended distances. In this view, north is to the left of the picture and solar illumination is from the bottom of the frame. The image was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 31, 2004, at a distance of about 123,400 kilometers (76,677 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecraft, or phase, angle of 78 degrees. Resolution achieved in the original image was 740 meters (2,428 feet) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 7, 2005 |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
|
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
|
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
|
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Largest Asteroid May Be 'Min
…
| Title |
Largest Asteroid May Be 'Mini Planet' with Water Ice |
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Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
|
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it
…
| Title |
Mars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth |
| General Information |
What is Hubble Heritage? A monthly showcase of new and archival Hubble images. Go to the Heritage site. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this picture of Mars on October 28, within a day of its closest approach to Earth on the night of October 29. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet's disk. This storm, which measures 930 miles (1500 km) has been churning in the planet's equatorial regions for several weeks now, and it is likely responsible for the reddish, dusty haze and other dust clouds seen across this hemisphere of the planet. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys High Resolution Imager took this image when the red planet was 43 million miles (69 million km) from Earth. Mars won't be this close again to Earth until 2018. Mars is now in its warmest months, closest to the Sun in its orbit, resulting in a smaller than normal south polar ice cap which has largely sublimated with the approaching summer. |
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Smooth deployment for second
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| title |
Smooth deployment for second MARSIS antenna boom |
| Description |
16 June 2005. The second 20-metre antenna boom of the MARSIS instrument on board Mars Express was successfully ? and smoothly ? deployed, confirmed today by the ground team at ESA?s European Space Operations Centre. The command to deploy the second MARSIS boom was given to the spacecraft at 13:30 CEST on 13 June 2005. Shortly before the deployment started, Mars Express was set into a slow rotation to last 30 minutes during and after the boom extension. This rotation allowed all the boom?s hinges to be properly heated by the Sun. Just after, an autonomous manoeuvre oriented the spacecraft towards the Sun, to have the spacecraft recharge its batteries and for a further heating of the hinges. A first positive sign reached ground in the afternoon of 14 June, at 16:20 CEST, when Mars Express was able to properly re-orient itself and point towards Earth to transmit data. The data received in the following hours confirmed that the initial spacecraft behaviour was consistent with two fully and correctly deployed booms and that the deployment had not induced disturbance frequencies that may have been dangerous for the spacecraft. A series of tests during the following 48 hours was necessary to verify that the long boom was successfully locked and that the deployment did not affect the integrity of the spacecraft systems. The complete success of the operation was announced today at 14:00 CEST, when the ground team had completed all tests on the spacecraft systems. This confirmed that the spacecraft is in optimal shape and under control, with the second MARSIS boom straight and locked into the correct position. With the two MARSIS 20-metre radar booms fully deployed, Mars Express is already in principle capable of 'looking' beneath the Martian surface, and also studying its ionosphere. The third 7-metre 'monopole' boom, to be deployed perpendicularly to the first two booms, will be used to correct some surface roughness effects on the radio waves emitted by MARSIS and reflected by the surface. The third boom deployment, not considered critical because of its orientation and shorter length, will take place on 17 June 2005. It will be followed by further tests on the spacecraft and the MARSIS instrument for a few more days. The radar with its long booms will allow Mars Express to continue its search for water on Mars. By night, the radar will be used to make soundings below the surface for water. By day the radar will probe the structure of the upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, said "This is a great success following some tense moments and careful judgements. The result shows the power of team work between ESA, European industry and ESA's partners in the scientific community in Europe and elsewhere." For more information: Fred Jansen ESA Mars Express Mission Managerfjansen@rssd.esa.int [ mailto:fjansen@rssd.esa.int ] Credit: ESA |
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Stellar Calibration, HiRISE!
| title |
Stellar Calibration, HiRISE! |
| Description |
As part of a calibration test conducted on December 14, 2005, the HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped this image of part of Jewel Box, an open star cluster. Jewel Box was so named by Sir John Herschel because of the variety of star colors in the cluster, including the large red giant seen near the bottom of this image."The images we've acquired of stars and the Moon have been very sharp," said Dr. Alfred McEwen, the camera's principal investigator. "The camera and spacecraft work great, so we are really looking forward to imaging Mars." HiRISE can image in three colors: green, red, and near-infrared, so the colors are not exactly as we see them with our eyes. Jewel Box, also called Kappa Crucis, is about 10 million years old, so it is much younger than our Sun at 4600 million years old. The Jewel Box cluster lies about 7,500 light years away, so the light we see today left the stars at the time of Earth's Neolithic ages, when farming was first being practiced. The image shown here is a small portion of the full image, which is 20,000 x 35,000 pixels or 700 mega-pixels. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |
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MRO Faces Huge Solar Flare
| title |
MRO Faces Huge Solar Flare |
| Description |
View the MPEG animation on the NOAA site (no audio). Image and animation credit: NOAA You might not often consider forecasts for other planets or stars. After all, they don't affect you, right? WRONG! Solar flares, or sudden bursts of energy from the Sun, can interrupt communication and electricity here on Earth. Guardians of in-flight spacecraft are especially sensitive to volatile solar forecasts since the emissions from our warm star can damage them severely. September 7, 2005 saw the fourth largest solar flare in the last 15 years! The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, on its way to Mars since August 12, 2005, was undamaged by the solar storm. The spacecraft is approximately 160 million kilometers (over 99 million miles) from the Sun and moving farther away each minute. Solar flares can travel deep into our solar system. However, they become less energetic the farther they travel and thus less of a threat to our spacecraft."Solar flares emit energetic particles that can cause what we call a single event effect. These events can wreak havoc on modern electronics. The damage can range from a reset of a computer to the complete destruction of an electrical subsystem," said Phil Barela, mission assurance manager for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission. When these energetic particles hit the electronics, they can blast holes through the active circuitry. Sometimes the particles will hit the electronics in just the wrong spot and cause the part to fail. NASA and JPL extensively test electronics to ensure all electronic parts can withstand a minimum threshold for a single event effect. All parts must undergo actual radiation testing, which bombards the parts with energetic particles (to the minimum threshold the team has established) and the devices must work during and after this testing, Barela explained. "We were lucky on this one," Barela noted. "The region 808 solar flare occurred on the the Sun's surface that was not facing the Earth. This allowed most of the solar flux to travel in the opposite direction from Earth. However, when the solar flare location traveled back into direct line of sight with Earth (as the Earth rotated around the Sun), the concern was that further solar activity might occur from this active region. In addition, we designed the spacecraft to withstand the worst solar flare activity that we have ever measured." Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |
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| Description |
Browse Image | Medium Image (129 kB) | Large (20.4 MB) Hi-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08813 ] |
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Unusual Activity during the
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
sun_sho_2005020
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2005-01-20 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA images by Robert Simmon, based on data provided by the NASA/ESA SOHO EIT and LASCO teams |
| identifier |
sun_sho_2005020 |
|
Unusual Activity during the
…
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle
…
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
sun_sho_2005020
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2005-01-20 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA images by Robert Simmon, based on data provided by the NASA/ESA SOHO EIT and LASCO teams |
| identifier |
sun_sho_2005020 |
|
Wind Erosion in Tithonium
PIA07890
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Wind Erosion in Tithonium |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
30 April 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows wind-eroded sedimentary rocks in Tithonium Chasma, one of the troughs of the Valles Marineris system. The winds responsible for the majority of the erosion blew from the northeast (upper right), creating yardangs (wind erosion ridges) with their tapered ends pointing downwind. "Location near": 4.6°S, 88.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Winter |
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Martian Gullies
PIA04146
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Martian Gullies |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
13 August 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies cut into layered rock and debris on the wall of a south middle-latitude crater. Gullies such as these are common at middle latitudes and may have required water to form. "Location near": 41.1°S, 204.8°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
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East Candor Outcrops
PIA03922
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
East Candor Outcrops |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
30 May 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, wind-eroded, sedimentary rock outcrops in eastern Candor Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris trough system. "Location near": 7.7°S, 65.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Seasonal Trend in Water Vapo
…
PIA07102
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Spectromete
…
| Title |
Seasonal Trend in Water Vapor Seen from Orbit |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
The seasonal trend in the amount of water vapor in Mars' atmosphere, as observed by thermal emission spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, varies by latitude. This plot starts near the beginning of fall in the southern hemisphere for the year before the Mars Exploration Rover mission began and ends on August 30, 2004, slightly more than one martian year later. Purple represents no water while red represents about 50 precipitable micrometers, which is about 10,000 times less than on Earth. The units of time along the horizontal axis are given in longitude of the Sun (Ls) as measured in a Mars-centered coordinate system, a way to reflect the elliptical nature of Mars' orbit. On this scale, Mars is farthest from the Sun at about 74, which also corresponds to late fall in the southern hemisphere. During the period when Mars is farthest from the Sun, the migration of water vapor from the northern polar region combines with lowered atmospheric temperatures to produce conditions that allow formation of clouds such as seen in the image at PIA07105 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07105 ]. Opportunity is further north than Spirit is, so there is a distinct difference in the amount of water vapor available to form water-ice clouds over the two sites. To date, Spirit has not seen any discrete, cirrus-like clouds such as Opportunity has photographed. Although water vapor is expected to reach a maximum abundance for the Opportunity and Spirit sites near spring equinox (Ls 180 or about March 2005), the atmospheric temperatures will very likely have warmed sufficiently to prevent formation of the type of clouds that Opportunity has observed recently. |
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East Tharsis Pit Chain
PIA03987
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
East Tharsis Pit Chain |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
7 July 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark, windblown sand dunes in the caldera of Nili Patera, a volcanic crater in Syrtis Major. The dunes were formed by winds blowing from the northeast (upper right). "Location near": 16.0°N, 93.1°W"Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season" Northern Autumn |
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Frozen Frozen CO2
PIA03008
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Frozen Frozen CO2 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
2 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a view of frozen carbon dioxide in the south polar residual cap of Mars. Much of the south polar residual cap exhibits terrain that resembles stacks of sliced Swiss cheese, but this portion of the cap lacks the typical, circular depressions that characterize much of the region. Carbon dioxide on Mars freezes at a temperature of around 148 Kelvins, which is -125°C or about -193°F. "Location near": 87.2°S, 28.4°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
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West Tithonium Scene
PIA03968
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
West Tithonium Scene |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
26 June 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark rippled surfaces and a patch of light-toned, perhaps sedimentary rock exposed on the floor of western Tithonium Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system. "Location near": 5.0°S, 90.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season" Southern Spring |
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West Arabia Barchans
PIA04101
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
West Arabia Barchans |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
16 July 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows small barchan dunes on the floor of a crater in western Arabia Terra. Similar dunes are found in most of the larger craters of the region. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slipfaces, point toward the west-southwest, indicating that dominant winds blow from the east-northeast (upper right). "Location near": 10.9°N, 2.8°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Enhanced by Frost
PIA03006
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Enhanced by Frost |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
30 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows outcrops of south polar layered terrain. Their appearance in this July 2005 springtime image is enhanced by bright patches of carbon dioxide frost. The frost is left over from the previous southern winter season, by summer, the frost would be gone. "Location near": 84.6°S, 203.5°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Mars at Ls 306°: Tharsis
PIA03016
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 306°: Tharsis |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
4 October 2005 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 306° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 306° occurs in mid-October 2005. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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Inverted Channels
PIA03004
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Inverted Channels |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
18 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the inverted remains of several channels in a fan-like complex in the Aeolis region of Mars. The inverted channels are the flat-topped ridges that trend from lower right toward upper left (southeast to northwest). Other ridges, trending from lower left toward upper right (southwest to northeast) are yardangs, the products of wind erosion. The channels were inverted by erosion, as well -- the tops of these ridges were once the floor of the channels (or the tops of materials that filled the channels). "Location near": 5.1°S, 205.0°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Dike near Auqakuh
PIA03037
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Dike near Auqakuh |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
13 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dike exhumed by erosion from beneath the cratered terrain near Auqakuh Vallis in northeastern Arabia Terra. The dike is the narrow, discontinuous ridge that cuts diagonally from the northwest (upper left) toward the southeast (lower right) across the scene. Typically, a dike is formed underground when molten rock -- "magma" -- is injected through a crack or fault. The magma eventually cools and hardens. A dike can also sometimes form in a non-volcanic setting by injection of wet sediment (which later hardens to rock) into an overlying sedimentary layer. The ridge is formed later, when surrounding rocks are eroded away, leaving the more erosion-resistant rock behind as a ridge. For an example on Earth, the famous Shiprock in northwestern New Mexico, U.S.A., has several dikes associated with it. "Location near": 31.4°N, 299.0°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
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South Polar Scene
PIA03020
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
South Polar Scene |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
8 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two circular features in the south polar region of Mars. The circular features are degraded impact craters. The dark, irregular features in each crater are the remnants of a layer of material that probably once covered the entire scene, before being eroded away. All of the terrain in this image is covered by defrosting, seasonal carbon dioxide frost. "Location near": 79.5°S, 295.0°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Martian Flows
PIA03021
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Martian Flows |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
9 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows several overlapping lava flows located on the vast plains east of the volcano, Ascraeus Mons. Hundreds of lava flows cover the plains from Ascraeus Mons eastward to Kasei Valles. These flows have largely been mantled by fine dust, a few areas in the image exhibit dark streaks, where wind gusts have stripped away some of this thin dust mantle. "Location near": 5.2°N, 86.7°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Crater in Sabaeus
PIA03036
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Crater in Sabaeus |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
12 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of an old impact crater in the Sinus Sabaeus region of Mars, just south of the large impact basin, Schiaparelli. "Location near": 6.3°S, 341.7°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Wind-Eroded Terrain
PIA03003
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Wind-Eroded Terrain |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
17 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a wind-eroded terrain. The ridges that cut across the scene from the lower right toward upper left (southeast to northwest) are classic yardangs, a landform created by wind erosion. These are located in the Eumenides Dorsum region of Mars. "Location near": 5.5°N, 159.0°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Arabian Crater
PIA03018
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Arabian Crater |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
6 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an old impact crater in southeastern Arabia Terra. The crater ejecta blanket is no longer visible and all of the terrain has been covered by a mantle of dust. The dark streaks on the crater wall are the result of dry avalanches of dust, the darker streaks formed more recently than the lighter-toned streaks. Indeed, the darkest streak is likely to be less than a few years old. "Location near": 3.0°N, 315.6°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Defrosting South #2
PIA03007
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Defrosting South #2 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
1 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a second view of varied springtime defrosting patterns formed in a dune field and surrounding polygon-patterned ground in the south polar region of Mars. The previous view was featured as a MOC Picture of the Day on 20 August 2005 (PIA04162 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA04162 ]). Both images show portions of the same terrain and occur within a few hundred meters of each other. The previous release explained that the feature sporting an outline of dark spots and an interior of smaller, closely-spaced dark spots and dark-outlined polygons is a patch of windblown or wind-eroded sand that was covered by carbon dioxide frost during the previous autumn and winter. The fainter, larger polygon pattern on either side of the patch of defrosting sand is formed in the substrate upon which the sand patch is sitting. Polygonal forms such as these might indicate the presence of ice below the surface. "Location near": 79.9°S, 125.9°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Huygens Wind Streak
PIA03005
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Huygens Wind Streak |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
19 September 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the results of wind action on the floor of the giant martian impact basin, Huygens. The large crater in this image has a wind streak on its lee side, pointing toward the lower right (southeast). Usually, a light-toned wind streak behind a crater on Mars will be composed of a thin veneer of dust that the wind was not able to erode because it was protected by the presence of the crater's raised rims. In this case, the streak is caused by something different -- by the fact that dark, windblown sand has not been able to accumulate behind the crater. "Location near": 13.0°S, 303.7°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Mars at Ls 306°: Acidalia/Ma
…
PIA03027
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 306°: Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
11 October 2005 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 306° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 306° occurs in mid-October 2005. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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Volcanic Pit Chain
PIA03017
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Volcanic Pit Chain |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
5 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a chain of collapse pits on the lower south flank of Ascraeus Mons. Pit chains such as this are the result of collapse along fault lines. In this case, before the collapses occurred, the fault was a conduit for molten rock -- magma -- which erupted to form a suite of lava flows (now covered by mantles of dust) that can be seen radiating away from the pit at the center of the image. "Location near": 7.2°N, 104.3°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Wind Streak in Daedalia
PIA03050
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Wind Streak in Daedalia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
20 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a wind streak formed in the lee of an impact crater in western Daedalia Planum. "Location near": 12.7°S, 136.6°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Exhuming Landforms
PIA03071
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Exhuming Landforms |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
26 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater and adjacent terrain that have been exhumed from beneath a wind-eroded material. The sharp, pointy ridges inside and immediately adjacent to the crater are the remains of a material that once covered the entire scene. Wind has stripped these materials away, forming yardangs. Inside the crater, the erosion has revealed an older, eroded layered material. This smooth-surfaced layered feature inside the crater was already eroded to nearly its present shape before the yardang-forming material was deposited (and then eroded away). "Location near": 7.2°N, 156.4°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
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Sirenum Fossae Troughs
PIA03051
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Sirenum Fossae Troughs |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
21 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two troughs/depressions formed along the trend of the Sirenum Fossae, a suite of very extensive troughs formed by faults that are radial to the giant Tharsis Bulge. As the Tharsis region bulged outward, adjacent terrain expanded and formed a series of long, extensional fault systems. "Location near": 26.4°S, 142.4°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Southern Spring |
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Cerberus Flood Features
PIA03043
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Cerberus Flood Features |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
16 October 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows streamlined landforms carved by catastrophic floods that occurred in the eastern Cerberus region, some time in the distant martian past. "Location near": 15.1°N, 193.5°W "Image width": width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Autumn |
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Mars at Ls 306°: Elysium/Mar
…
PIA03069
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Mars at Ls 306°: Elysium/Mare Cimmerium |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
25 October 2005 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 306° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 306° occurred in mid-October 2005. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. "Season": Northern Winter/Southern Summer |
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