HiRISE | Nice Mustache! (ESP_084720

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Nice Mustache!
ESP_084720_0930 Science Theme: Polar Geology

This image in the South Polar region of Mars covers Swiss cheese terrain, which is so named due to the circular pits formed by seasonally sublimating carbon dioxide ice.

Sometimes the pits join or connect, forming other shapes, such as the Martian mustaches we see here (the sunlight is coming from the bottom right of the image, and the image is about 430 meters, or 470 yards, across). Another interesting feature of this unearthly scene, which was taken during southern summer, is the cracking visible in the translucent layer of carbon dioxide ice that covers the smooth areas between the pits.

Written by: Sarah Sutton (28 November 2024)

Acquisition date
22 August 2024

Local Mars time
19:49

Latitude (centered)
-87.087°

Longitude (East)
300.724°

Spacecraft altitude
248.0 km (154.1 miles)

Original image scale range
49.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~149 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
3.0°

Phase angle
72.5°

Solar incidence angle
74°, with the Sun about 16° above the horizon

Solar longitude
316.3°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 172°
Sub-solar azimuth: 53.3°

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   (98MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (33MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (55MB)
non-map           (99MB)

IRB color
map projected (13MB)
non-map           (71MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (89MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (82MB)

RGB color
non map           (62MB)

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.