Tag Archives: craters

HiRISE image: High-latitude crater

Posted on February 18, 2014 by rburnham

Beautiful Mars series: High-latitude (72° N) crater, with frost vanishing from its interior walls as spring advances. More Beautiful Mars images.

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HiRISE image: Crater in shadow

Posted on February 13, 2014 by rburnham

Beautiful Mars series: Crater in shadow.  More Beautiful Mars images.

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THEMIS image: More Utopia dust devils

Posted on February 12, 2014 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, February 12, 2014. Today’s VIS image shows a different part of Utopia Planitia than yesterday’s image. Both are marked with hundreds of dust devil tracks. More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.

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THEMIS image: Dust devil tracks in Utopia

Posted on February 11, 2014 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, February 11, 2014. The dark markings in this VIS image are tracks made by the passage of “dust devils”. Dust devils are common in the extensive plains of the northern latitudes. This image is located … Continue reading →

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HiRISE image: spectacular new impact crater

Posted on February 5, 2014 by rburnham

Context Camera (CTX) images showed a likely new impact crater formed at this location between July 2010 and May 2012, and now a HiRISE image provides details about this recent impact event. Our image shows a large, rayed blast zone … Continue reading →

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Pressure-release melting put rocky floors into early Mars craters

Posted on November 7, 2013 by rburnham

Martian craters in the highlands that are wider than 10 kilometers (6 miles) often have flat, smooth, shallow floors. This fact has been noted since the first spacecraft images of Mars were taken by NASA’s Mariner 4 in 1965. Over … Continue reading →

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Gale Crater’s Lake District

Posted on March 26, 2013 by rburnham

Mars rover Curiosity landed on, or just beyond, the far end of an alluvial fan — rocks, gravel, and sand washed down by the Peace River from the north rim of Gale Crater. The rover has driven for 200 sols … Continue reading →

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Developing a stratigraphic column for Gale Crater’s floor

Posted on March 19, 2013 by rburnham

After more than 100 sols (Martian days) in Gale Crater, NASA’s Curiosity rover has driven some 500 meters (1,600 feet), traversing several rock units. A sketch of the crater floor’s geological history is emerging. On its half-kilometer drive from its … Continue reading →

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Grooving on Phobos

Posted on February 5, 2013 by rburnham

Phobos, the larger moon of Mars, has a surface covered in craters, dust, boulders – and a great many semi-parallel and intersecting grooves. One theory for the grooves’ origin, proposed in 2011, holds that they are impact scars from chains … Continue reading →

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How old is Meridiani Planum?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by rburnham

The smooth, flat plain where Mars rover Opportunity landed in January 2004 looks spookily empty. Only a few rocks and meteorites, plus foot-high sand dunes and ripples, break the endless vista under a clear tawny sky. How long has the … Continue reading →

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