HiRISE | Reading between the TAR (ESP_083631

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Reading between the TAR
ESP_083631_1735 Science Theme: Composition and Photometry

This image was targeted on the floor of a 45-kilometer diameter crater in the ancient Southern Hemisphere highlands to look for interesting mineral compositions.

A nearby, smaller crater excavated exposed colorful bedrock from the larger crater’s floor, visible in another HiRISE observation. The different colors indicate varied mineral compositions. The relatively flat floor of this large crater is almost entirely covered in parallel linear dune-like features called “transverse aeolian ridges” (TAR). The colorful bedrock peeks through between the TAR and in exposed mounds throughout the crater floor.

Some of the larger TAR appear to have banding on one side possibly indicating layers of different compositions. The detailed scene is about 270 meters, or nearly three football fields wide.

Written by: Sarah Sutton (17 September 2024)

Acquisition date
29 May 2024

Local Mars time
15:09

Latitude (centered)
-6.326°

Longitude (East)
72.170°

Spacecraft altitude
263.2 km (163.6 miles)

Original image scale range
54.0 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~162 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
12.8°

Phase angle
37.3°

Solar incidence angle
49°, with the Sun about 41° above the horizon

Solar longitude
264.7°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 338.0°

JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (146MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (50MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (72MB)
non-map           (113MB)

IRB color
map projected (21MB)
non-map           (52MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (159MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (152MB)

RGB color
non map           (49MB)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.