PIA05279: South Polar Scene


South Polar Scene

Caption:

5 February 2004
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the upper left, thus the somewhat kidney bean-shaped features are pits, not mounds. These pits and their neighboring polygonal cracks are formed in a material composed mostly of carbon dioxide ice. The image is located near 87.0°S, 5.7°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instrument Host Mars Global Surveyor
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Detector
Extra Keywords Grayscale
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2004-02-05
Date in Caption 2004-02-05
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05279
Identifier PIA05279