Catalog Page for PIA21105

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PIA21105: On the Edge of the South Pole Layered Deposit

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the edge of the Martian South Polar layered deposit. The stack of fine layering is highlighted by the rays of the polar sun.

Target Name:	Mars
Is a satellite of:	Sol (our sun)
Mission:	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Spacecraft:	Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Instrument:	HiRISE
Product Size:	2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
Produced By:	University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
Other Information:	Other products from ESP_047087_1065
Full-Res TIFF:	PIA21105.tif (15.56 MB)
Full-Res JPEG:	PIA21105.jpg (795.1 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:

Map Projected Browse Image
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This image shows the edge of the Martian South Polar layered deposit. The stack of fine layering is highlighted by the rays of the polar sun.

These layers show the pervasive red coloring of Mars which have built up over the ages. While this is a polar deposit, no ice or frost is visible on these layers, as they face the sun. However, if you look beyond the rim of the layered slope at the 'top' of the deposit, you can see that red rock and dust are covered with frost, as well as small radial channels that are evidence of polar spider networks.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:

2016-10-05