PIA08461: Outer Dregs
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the very edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars. The bright areas, which appear somewhat like pieces of sliced Swiss cheese, are composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide.
 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:  1024 x 1548 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1463  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08461.tif (1.587 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08461.jpg (336.8 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:

15 May 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the very edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars. The bright areas, which appear somewhat like pieces of sliced Swiss cheese, are composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide. The scarps around the edges of the carbon dioxide mesas have been retreating at a rate of roughly 3 meters (~3 yards) per martian year; in this case, exposing a darker surface that lies below.

Location near: 85.4°S, 88.6°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:
2006-05-15