Context image

This false color image shows part of the south polar cap. The cap was created over millions of years with deposition of ice and dust during different seasons. This image was collected during spring time. In addition to the layers of ice/dust (bottom of image) the surface of the ice contains dark spots, may of which are elongated. The process forming these spots is still not understood, but likely occurs by geysers of ice and dust that erupt in regions of thin CO2 ice (dry ice). These spots will fade from view as spring changes into summer.

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.

Orbit Number: 65107 Latitude: -86.2797 Longitude: 98.6099 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-08-17 17:37

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.