Catalog Page for PIA04507

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PIA04507: Dunes and Dust Devil Tracks

NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the first day of spring in the martian southern hemisphere as seen by the spacecraft in 2003.

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:	540 x 810 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	Malin Space Science Systems
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA04507.tif (438.1 kB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA04507.jpg (63.29 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-352, 6 May 2003

March 6, 2003, is the first day of spring in the martian southern hemisphere. As spring progresses in the south, dust devils will begin to form and sweep up some of the veneer of bright dust that accumulated during the recent autumn and winter seasons.

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows sand dunes in Wirtz Crater. The dark streaks that criss-cross each dune were probably formed by passing dust devils that disrupted or removed some of the thin layer of dust that coats the dunes. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide near 48.3°S, 25.4°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left.

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:

2003-05-08