PIA08802: Mars at Ls 121°
 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:  1280 x 1920 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Producer ID:  MOC2-1602
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA08802.tif (2.462 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA08802.jpg (184.2 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

1 October 2006
These images capture what Mars typically looks like in mid-afternoon at Ls 121°. In other words, with the exception of occasional differences in weather and polar frost patterns, this is what the red planet looks like this month (October 2006).

Six views are shown, including the two polar regions. These are composites of 24-26 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global mapping images acquired at red and blue wavelengths. The 'hole' over the south pole is an area where no images were obtained, because this polar region is enveloped in wintertime darkness.

Presently, it is summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere. Ls, solar longitude, a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn. Northern summer/southern winter begins at Ls 90°, northern autumn/southern spring start at Ls 180°, and northern winter/southern summer begin at Ls 270°.

Ls 121° occurs in the middle of this month (October 2006). The pictures show how Mars appeared to the MOC wide angle cameras at a previous Ls 121° in February 2001. The six views are centered on the Tharsis region (upper left), Acidalia and Mare Eyrthraeum (upper right), Syrtis Major and Hellas (middle left), Elysium and Mare Cimmeria (middle right), the north pole (lower left), and the south pole (lower right).

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2006-10-02