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PIA04619: Fresh, Rayed Impact Crater
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a fresh, young meteor impact crater on the martian surface with well-preserved rayed ejecta patterns.
 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:  PIA04619.tif (438.1 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04619.jpg (57.09 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. MOC2-416, 9 July 2003

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a fresh, young meteor impact crater on the martian surface. It is less than 400 meters (less than 400 yards) across. While there is no way to know the exact age of this or any other martian surface feature, the rays are very well preserved. On a planet where wind can modify surface features at the present time, a crater with rayed ejecta patterns must be very young indeed. Despite its apparent youth, the crater could still be many hundreds of thousands, if not several million, of years old. This impact scar is located within the much larger Crommelin Crater, near 5.6°N, 10.0°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2003-07-10