HiRISE | About a Lava-Filled Crater (ESP_088625

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

About a Lava-Filled Crater
ESP_088625_1810 Science Theme:

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This image shows an impact crater in southern Elysium Planitia. This area was covered by a large flood of lava, which we see as the generally flat areas surrounding the crater. As the lava flowed across, some of it flowed into this crater through a low spot along the crater rim.

Once in the crater, the lava heated ground water or ground ice in the floor, causing the water to boil and turn into steam. This steam then exploded through the overlying lava and created small, ring-shaped formations. These are called ”rootless cones,” and they record the presence of ground water or ground ice in the crater floor at the time of the lava eruptions.

Written by: Chris Okubo (11 September 2025)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_088836_1810.

Acquisition date
23 June 2025

Local Mars time
15:25

Latitude (centered)
1.112°

Longitude (East)
158.099°

Spacecraft altitude
273.4 km (169.9 miles)

Original image scale range
55.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~165 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
7.1°

Phase angle
60.7°

Solar incidence angle
55°, with the Sun about 35° above the horizon

Solar longitude
100.7°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 36.8°

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   (179MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (59MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (95MB)
non-map           (141MB)

IRB color
map projected (24MB)
non-map           (55MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (181MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (173MB)

RGB color
non map           (105MB)

ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

BONUS
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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.