Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
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Craters-Holden_Crater-01.jpgThe beautiful "Holden Crater" (1)53 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Holden_Crater-02.jpgThe beautiful "Holden Crater" (2)53 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Holden_Crater-03.jpgThe beautiful "Holden Crater" (3)53 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Holden_Crater-04.jpgThe beautiful "Holden Crater" (4)54 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Holden_Crater-PCF-LXTT.jpgFeatures of Holden Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)128 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Holden_Crater-TRA_000861_1530_RED_Holden_Delta_00.jpgThe beautiful Holden Crater54 visiteThis HiRISE image covers a portion of the floor of Holden Crater situated in southwest Margaritifer Terra. Holden crater has likely experienced extensive modification by running water, which is supported by observations of drainage and deposition into the crater from a large channel breaching Holden's rim and the alluvial fans that built out along the floor of the crater. The HiRISE sub-image shows relatively bright finely layered deposits that are capped by relatively darker materials. Unlike previous images, the HiRISE image shows that the thickness of some of the individual layers are on the order of a meter or even less in thickness and are laterally uniform and continuous over the extent of the imaged outcrop. Some of the layers in the outcrop display an orthogonal pattern or what may be fractures or joints. The "layer-cake" appearance of these layers suggests that they may have been deposited into a lake that once occupied the crater floor and have seen little in the way of deformation since that time. By contrast, the darker materials overlying the layers are younger and may have been sediments deposited off the nearby alluvial fans. Alternatively, they may represent wind-blown deposits lain down during a later much drier period similar to the conditions that currently exist at the surface today. In some locations, the darker materials have been stripped and expose the lighter finely layered sediments underneath, thereby implying the finely layered materials extend much farther than what is visible along the large outcrop.
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Craters-Holden_Crater-TRA_000861_1530_RED_Holden_Delta_01.jpgDetails of the beautiful White Cliffs of Holden Crater (Natural Colors credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)58 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Craters-Huygens_Crater-PIA13800-PCF-LXTT.jpgFractures and Layers in Carbonate-bearing Rocks at Mars' Huygens Basin (Absolute Natural Colors; credits: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)273 visiteCaption NASA:This image from orbit covers an area about 460 meters (approx. 1500 feet) across, in which Carbonate Minerals have been identified from spectrometer observations. Fractures and possible Layers are visible in the light-toned Rock exposure containing the Carbonates.
The location is inside an Unnamed Crater about 35 Km (approx. 21,73 miles) in diameter that lays on the Uplifted Rim of the extremely wide Huygens Crater, which is about 467 Km (approx. 290 miles) in diameter. The excavations by the impacts that dug first Huygens and then the smaller crater have exposed material in this image that had been buried an estimated 5 Km (3,1 miles) deep.
The Carbonates may be from part of an extensive Buried Layer that could hold much of the Carbon that was once in a thick Martian Atmosphere of Carbon Dioxide, some researchers propose.
Mars now has a thin Atmosphere that is mostly Carbon Dioxide, but evidence that liquid water was once widespread on the Surface suggests the Atmosphere was much thicker billions of years ago. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provided this image.
Identification of Iron or Calcium Carbonates at this site, and also of Clay Minerals indicating a formerly wet environment, comes from an observation by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the same Orbiter.
The point is that in the presence of water and other (favourable) conditions, the CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) that is present in the Martian Atmosphere can be captured into Carbonate Minerals.
The image is from HiRISE observation ESP_012897_168, made on April 27, 2009, and centered at 11,6° South Lat. and 51,9° East Long.".MareKromium
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Craters-Iazu_Crater-ESP_023092_1775_RED_abrowse-PCF-LXTT.jpgThe Eastern half of Iazu Crater - Meridiani Planum (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)196 visiteMars Local Time: 14:11 (Early Afternoon)
Coord. (centered): 2,7° South Lat. and 354,9° East Long.
Spacecraft altitude: 272,8 Km (such as about 170,5 miles)
Original image scale range: 27,3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~ 82 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 25 cm/pixel
Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission Angle: 10,6°
Sun-Mars-Spacecraft (or "Phase") Angle: 25°
Solar Incidence Angle: 35° (meaning that the Sun is about 55° above the Local Horizon)
Solar Longitude: 320,2° (Northern Winter)
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Additional process. and coloring: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer ItaliaMareKromium
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Craters-Kasimov_Crater-ESP_030609_1550-PCF-LXTT-IPF-3.jpgInverted Channels in Kasimov Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)70 visiteBy slightly enhancing an Absolute Natural Color image such as the EDM (see the inset to the right of the CTX Frame, which represents an about 1-Km wide - such as 0,621 miles - section of the whole area photographed by the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter), can help us to achieve a better understanding of the imaged Surface Features, as well as to clearly distinguish between Surface Materials possessing different Histories, Textures and Mineral (---> Chemical) Compositions.
The whole image shows us a portion of the Floor of the Martian Impact Crater named "Kasimov" (a large - approx. 91 Km in diameter - and extremely ancient Impact Crater located in the Southern Hemisphere of the Red Planet), with several brown-gray (with subtle reddish nuances) Ridges that run from the bottom center to the upper left side of the frame. If you look carefully at all these different Ridges, you will notice that the Main Ridge is joined by a smaller one (look at the central portion of the CTX Frame) like small Tributary Rivers join together with larger ones on Earth. Indeed, this is exactly what happened here, on Mars, but - most likely - a few billions of years ago.
These Ridges are called "Inverted Channels" and they mark the locations of ancient Martian Riverbeds (in this case the Main River flowed towards the upper left of the image). Such Inverted Channels formed because the bottoms of these Rivers (---> Tributaries) were all full of Gravel-sized Rocks, whereas the areas around them were made of fine Clays. A VERY long time after the Rivers stopped flowing and dried-up, the Wind, slowly, removed completely the fine and light Clays, but it was not strong enough to blow away the heavy Gravel. In the end, after all the Clays were gone, the old Riverbeds were left as High-standing Gravel Ridges, such as the ones very well visible here (both in the CTX Frame as well as in the EDM).
Mars Local Time: 15:49 (Middle Afternoon)
Coord. (centered): 35,729° North Lat. and 129,386° East Long.
Spacecraft altitude: 258,2 Km (such as about 160,3 miles)
Original image scale range: 25,8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~ 78 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 25 cm/pixel
Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission Angle: 11,0°
Sun-Mars-Spacecraft (or Phase) Angle: 47,6°
Solar Incidence Angle: 58° (meaning that the Sun was about 32° above the Local Horizon at the time the picture was taken)
Solar Longitude: 203,7° (Northern Fall - Southern Spring)
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Additional process. and coloring: Lunar Explorer Italia
The CTX Frame (which is an Original Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter non-map projected b/w frame, identified by the serial n. ESP_030609_1550) and the EDM (which is an Original Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter enhanced color frame, identified by the serial n. ESP_030609_1550-1) have both been additionally processed and then colorized (as far as the EDM is concerned, re-colorized) in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and then looked down, towards the Surface of Kasimov Crater - Mars), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team. Different colors, as well as different shades of the same color, mean, among others, the existence of different Elements present on the Surface of Kasimov Crater, each having a different Albedo (---> Reflectivity) and Chemical Composition.MareKromium
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Craters-Palos_Crater-PIA12994.jpgDeposits on the Floor of Palos Crater (Possible Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)91 visiteThis image shows a portion of the Floor of Palos Crater, on Equatorial Mars.
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded this image on March 8, 2010.
The target for this HiRISE observation was a suggestion submitted through the camera team's HiWish public-suggestion program. For more information about how to submit target suggestions, see http://uahirise.org/hiwish/.
The Floor appears bumpy with high-standing layered Knobs. Most of the Terrain on the Floor is weathering into meter-size (yard-size) polygonal blocks. The circular structures in the image, many of which are filled with darker wind-blown material, are eroded impact craters.
Palos Crater is breached in the South by the approx. 180-Km-long (about 112-mile-long) Tinto Vallis. Water transported along Tinto Vallis could have could have collected into Palos Crater to form a lake that later drained to the North.
Sediments carried by Tinto Vallis would have also been deposited within Palos Crater, so the layered unit we see along the floor today could represent these fluvial sediments.
This image covers a swath of ground about 1 Km (approx. two-thirds of a mile) wide. It is a portion of HiRISE observation ESP_016943_1775, which is centered at 2,67° South Latitude and 111,13° East Longitude. The season on Mars is southern-hemisphere autumn. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_016943_1775.MareKromium
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Craters-Proctor_Crater-PIA13076.jpgProctor's Dunes (Possible Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)88 visiteThis observation shows the edge of a dark Dunefield on the Floor of Proctor Crater, an about 150 Km (approx. 93 miles) diameter crater in the Southern Highlands of Mars.
This subimage is a close-up view of the dark dunes. These dunes are most likely composed of basaltic sand that has collected on the bottom of the crater. Superimposed on their surface are smaller secondary dunes which are commonly seen on terrestrial dunes of this size. Near the crests of the dark dunes are bright patches of frost. Dark spots within the frost patches are areas where defrosting is occurring.
Many smaller and brighter bed forms, most likely small dunes or granule ripples, cover the substrate between the larger dark dunes as well as most of the Floor of Proctor Crater. In many locations, large boulders are seen on the same surfaces as the bright bed forms.
The dark dunes stratigraphically overlie the small bright bed forms indicating that the darker dunes formed more recently.
However in several areas, the dark dunes appear to influence the orientation of the small bright dunes, possibly by wind flowing around the larger dunes, suggesting that both dark and bright bed forms are coeval.MareKromium
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