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CO 2 Hourglass
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Caption:
24 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap of Mars. The bright, relatively homogeneous-appearing material extending from top (north) to bottom (south) is mainly composed of solid carbon dioxide. During the martian summer months, sublimation, the direct conversion of a solid to a gas, causes the scarps that delineate the edges of the bright material to retreat by approximately 3 meters (around 10 feet) before autumn begins.
Location near
: 87.1°S, 94.0°W
Image width
: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from
: upper left
Season
: Southern Summer
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 | 2006-04-24 | |
| Date in Caption | 2006-04-24 | |
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08091 | |
| Identifier | PIA08091 | |
