PIA09673: Dark-Toned Ridges in Meridiani
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2048 x 4667 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA09673.tif (9.568 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA09673.jpg (1.241 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:

Click here for larger version of PIA09673
Click on image for larger version

This HiRISE image (PSP_003379_1835) is along the rim of an impact crater in Meridiani and shows a lighter-toned base unit with more resistant dark-toned ridges on top.

Both units exhibit complex fracture patterns. Also evident are old dune fields that have been solidified and then fractured, as well as younger, non-solidified dune fields.

More recently, the entire area has been deeply eroded by the wind.

Observation Toolbox
Acquisition date: 4 April 2007
Local Mars time: 3:34 PM
Degrees latitude (centered): 3.3°
Degrees longitude (East): 357.1°
Range to target site: 271.6 km (169.7 miles)
Original image scale range: 27.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolved
Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up
Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle: 0.1°
Phase angle: 56.3°
Solar incidence angle: 56°, with the Sun about 34° above the horizon
Solar longitude: 220.3°, Northern Autumn

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2007-05-02