PIA08540: Waning Cap
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the outer edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars.
 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 4008 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems 
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1493  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08540.tif (8.217 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08540.jpg (750.9 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:

14 June 2006
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the outer edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars. During summer, the scarps that delineate the sides of the mesas, retreat (on average) by about 3 meters (~10 feet) owing to the sublimation of solid carbon dioxide.

Location near: 85.6°S, 349.8°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:
2006-06-14