PIA08107: South Polar Designs
This NASA Mars Global Surveyor image shows an undulating scene in the south polar region of Mars. Small, elevated mesas of smooth, relatively homogeneous-appearing material are separated by low-lying regions that are speckled and darkened.
 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:  2048 x 2712 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1447  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08107.tif (5.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08107.jpg (1.151 MB)  

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:

29 April 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an undulating scene in the south polar region of Mars. Small, elevated mesas of smooth, relatively homogeneous-appearing material are separated by low-lying regions that are speckled and darkened in some local areas. Over the martian summer months, sublimation of solid carbon dioxide -- the bright material in the scene -- contributes to the darkening of the sides of the mesas as well as the low-lying regions between them.

Location near: 86.8°S, 341.3°W
Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Summer

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-04-29