Sometimes, pictures received from Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) are "just plain pretty." This image, taken in early September 2000, shows a group of sand dunes at the edge of a much larger field of dark-toned dunes in Proctor Crater. Located at 47.9°S, 330.4°W, in the 170 km (106 mile) diameter crater named for 19th Century British astronomer Richard A. Proctor (1837-1888), the dunes shown here are created by winds blowing largely from the east/northeast. A plethora of smaller, brighter ripples covers the substrate between the dunes. Sunlight illuminates them from the upper left.
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 | Crater, Dune, Grayscale | |
Acquisition Date | ||
Release Date | 2001-02-08 | |
Date in Caption | ||
Image Credit | NASA/JPL/MSSS | |
Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03208 | |
Identifier | PIA03208 |