PIA23231: A Frosted Surface


A Frosted Surface

Caption:

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Map Projected Browse Image
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This is the first of a new monitoring series to track seasonal processes. It is also a striking image with late winter angled illumination over dunes covered by carbon dioxide frost mixed with dust.

Dark spots may be where sand is exposed from very early defrosting activity. The incidence angle is 87 degrees, or just 3 degrees above the horizon.

The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 64.2 centimeters [25.3 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 192 centimeters [75.6 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.

Background Info:

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Instrument Host Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
Detector
Extra Keywords Atmosphere, Color, Dune, Dust, Map, Storm
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2019-05-15
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA23231
Identifier PIA23231