HiRISE (NASA)
HiRISE is a high resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA). We take images of the surface of Mars. Based out of UArizona in Tucson.
Joined Aug 2018
Spring Slide
The North Polar region of Mars is capped with layers of water ice and dust, called the “polar layered deposits.” This permanent polar cap is covered in the winter with a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice.
Here, we can see a dark streak marking the path of that loose material, approximately 1 kilometer wide. HiRISE images often show avalanches in progress in the springtime along the edge of the polar layered deposits in this area.
Bizarre TARs
These strange features in Syria Planum are still being widely debated. They have the same general form as transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) elsewhere on Mars; windblown deposits that are common in the Martian tropics. Their height and spacing are similar to the more familiar looking TARs in other places, and they are similarly bright. Unless Nature is perverse, they were both made by the same process.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_042124_1665
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars
An ExoMars Landing Site (Oxia Planum)
HiRISE plays an important role in finding suitable landing sites for future rover missions. Scientists have narrowed down the candidate landing sites for the upcoming European ExoMars rover mission to two regions: the plains of Oxia and Mawrth Vallis. (This particular area is slightly north-east of the landing ellipse in Oxia Planum.)
Barchan Pac-Man
Here is something interesting: a barchan dune filling the upwind portion of a small impact crater in a Pac-Man-like shape. This “dune-in-a-crater” is nearly at the highest extent of the field. It’s also probably a rare configuration, and over the next few tens of thousands of years the sand will be blown out of the crater. Enjoy it while it lasts!
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_054515_1930
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE 10K: Lava Flows in Daedalia Planum
To the southwest of Arsia Mons in Daedalia Planum, wide lava flow units emanating from the volcano coalesce to form a vast volcanic plain.
Full cutout on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2qiFE8P
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #geology #NASA
HiRISE 3D: An Impact Crater on the Northern Plains
The best way to end a week of 3D images? With a classic impact crater image.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_018037_2445_ESP_018828_2445_RED
A Layered Mound in Claritas Rupes
Also available in Context Camera data, the objective of this observation is to examine a layered mound near a curved valley. Claritas Rupes is a 924-kilometer long scarp to the southwest of Solis Planum, and part of the Claritas Fossae unit. The term “rupes” is used in planetary geology to refer to escarpments and is the Latin word for “cliffs.”
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075422_1425
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE 8K: Layers Exposed in the Walls of an Impact Crater
Partway down from the crater rim is a prominent bright layer of bedrock. These layers must correspond to different types of rock that were deposited as nearly flat-lying sheets.
Full cutout on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2qizKHE
HiRISE 3D: A Potential Future Mars Landing Site in Melas Chasma
Another anaglyph that shows off the power of HiRISE resolution needed for hazard assessment for future missions.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_020708_1700_ESP_020286_1700_RED
The Canyon Floor in East Coprates Chasma
The walls (both south and north of this site) potentially expose pristine crustal material. This is an area of interest that could be accessed and is within a potential future rotorcraft landing site.
ID: ESP_075407_1650
date: 28 August 2022
altitude: 263 km
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075407_1650
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE Epigrammata
“As an endless dream it went on…to find all gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken….”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald, “This Side of Paradise”
HiRISE 4K: Possible Clays near Margaritifer Chaos
The existence of clay minerals is especially interesting on Mars since we want to know under what conditions these minerals formed. Could it have been the presence of water?
Full cutout on Flickr: https://flic.kr/p/2qiy6Ym
HiRISE 3D: A Possible Future Landing Site in Coprates Chasma
Anaglyph images from HiRISE provide additional detail to characterize hazards within a possible landing ellipse.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_026549_1675_ESP_035265_1675_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Irregular Graben Features
The graben in this image contains an unusually tall cone with very even sides, and the surrounding terrain is darker in the direction of prevailing wind. This observation could bring out some of the detail around this unusual feature and show possible changes that have occurred over the last ten Earth years in case this area is thermally active.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075384_1510
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE 3D: To Measure Heights and Widths of Raised Ridges in a Sedimentary Deposit
When an observation title kinda says it all.
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084367_1560_ESP_083866_1560_RED
On Thick Ice
In this fascinating image, we see fractured mounds on thick carbon dioxide ice that may be diapirs or deflation over subglacial topography. The pits may show signs of ongoing collapse. A diapir is a relatively mobile mass that intrudes into preexisting rocks. Diapirs commonly intrude vertically through more dense rocks.
ID: ESP_075399_0920
date: 27 August 2022
altitude: 246 km
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075399_0920
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE 3D: Gullies!
These gullies on the wall of an impact crater look great in Context Camera data, and now we take an even closer 3D look.
https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084333_1355_ESP_084122_1355_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #3D
Resistant Material in Olympus Mons Aureole Ridges
The question of how the Olympus Mons aureole formed has wide-ranging implications for Mars paleoclimate, including whether a northern ocean existed. The properties of the resistant material exposed within aureole blocks can help test the merits of competing hypotheses for the aureole’s formation.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075502_2110
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
Tangential Craters within Ptolemaeus Crater
This image shows two small craters, just touching on their rims, in the much larger Ptolmaeus Crater, which is located in the Martian Southern Hemisphere. These craters are called “tangential craters.”
The more degraded and filled-in crater is approximately 3 kilometers in diameter, and there is an unusual feature near the center.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_020065_1335
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Gigas Sulci
A sulcus (or sulci, plural) is defined as “subparallel furrows and ridges.” This is a purely descriptive term for landforms that could have a variety of origins.
At this location appears to be a graben (which is a fault-bounded valley) on a large scale, and locally (such as in this image) became a vent region for lava flows.
ID: ESP_040661_1890
date: 30 March 2015
altitude: 272 km
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_040661_1890
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE (NASA)
HiRISE is a high resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA). We take images of the surface of Mars. Based out of UArizona in Tucson.
Joined Aug 2018