PIA02337: Wide Angle View of Arsia Mons Volcano

Target Name: Mars Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun) Mission: Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Spacecraft: Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Instrument: Mars Orbiter Camera Product Size: 742 samples x 508 lines Produced By: Malin Space Science Systems Producer ID: P50574 MRPS95291 MOC2-179 Addition Date: 2000-05-13 Primary Data Set: MGS EDRs Full-Res TIFF: PIA02337.tif (810.7 kB) Full-Res JPEG: PIA02337.jpg (32.44 kB)

Original Caption Released with Image: Arsia Mons (above) is one of the largest volcanoes known. This shield volcano is part of an aligned trio known as the Tharsis Montes--the others are Pavonis Mons and Ascraeus Mons. Arsia Mons is rivaled only by Olympus Mons in terms of its volume. The summit of Arsia Mons is more than 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) higher than the surrounding plains. The crater--or caldera--at the volcano summit is approximately 110 km (68 mi) across. This view of Arsia Mons was taken by the red and blue wide angle cameras of the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) system. Bright water ice clouds (the whitish/bluish wisps) hang above the volcano--a common sight every martian afternoon in this region. Arsia Mons is located at 120° west longitude and 9° south latitude. Illumination is from the left. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS