PIA03020: South Polar Scene
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows two circular features in the south polar region of Mars. The circular features are degraded impact craters. The dark, irregular features in each crater are the remnants of a layer of material.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) 
 Product Size:  672 x 1211 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1244  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03020.tif (814.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03020.jpg (300.6 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

8 October 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two circular features in the south polar region of Mars. The circular features are degraded impact craters. The dark, irregular features in each crater are the remnants of a layer of material that probably once covered the entire scene, before being eroded away. All of the terrain in this image is covered by defrosting, seasonal carbon dioxide frost.

Location near: 79.5°S, 295.0°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2005-10-08