Mars Express Alive again

[EarthlingX]

http://www.esa.int : Mars’s mysterious elongated crater

27 August 2010


Orcus Patera on Mars

Orcus Patera is an enigmatic elliptical depression near Mars’s equator, in the eastern hemisphere of the planet. Located between the volcanoes of Elysium Mons and Olympus Mons, its formation remains a mystery.

Often overlooked, this well-defined depression extends approximately 380 km by 140 km in a NNE–SSW direction. It has a rim that rises up to 1800 m above the surrounding plains, while the floor of the depression lies 400–600 m below the surroundings.

 

[3488]

Thanks EarthlingX,

Very, very interesting. An elongated crater that to me looks lava filled, perhaps a glancing impact, which filled with lava???.

I'll submit a request to the MRO HiRISE team to get a really hires view of the interior, to see the density of smaller impact craters & / or erosional evidence to help ascertain it's age.

Similar curious elongated craters of similar ilk to Orcus Patera have also been found on Mercury & the Moon.

220 Km by 120 KM Sveinsdottir Crater on Mercury.


179 KM by 71 KM Schiller Crater on the Moon.


380 KM by 140 KM Orcus Patera on Mars.


Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

Thanks EarthlingX,

Very, very interesting. An elongated crater that to me looks lava filled, perhaps a glancing impact, which filled with lava???.

It could be lava filled, but could also be filled with water sediments or wind. My first impression was a glancing multi-body impact (3-4). It looks rather young, but obviously older than those crossing 'graben' or fissures, or perhaps interior got filled later ?

There is a similar elongated crater on the left top rim, but much smaller.

I'll submit a request to the MRO HiRISE team to get a really hires view of the interior, to see the density of smaller impact craters & / or erosional evidence to help ascertain it's age.

Very nice I was checking available images of the area, but none of those i found covers the whole feature, or at least not as detailed as we got spoiled by the HiRISE

There are at least two images, but they are covering the rim and not the interior, and only half of the whole thing.

 

[3488]

I have created a dedicated thread to Orcus Patera on SS&A.

Orcus Patera on Mars thread on SS&A.

Hi EarthlingX,

I have copied your posts over on to the dedicated thread too, as you provided the incentive & best links.

Thank You very much for bringing this topic up about Orcus Patera. It IS a fascinating feature for sure. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.

 

[EarthlingX]

I have created a dedicated thread to Orcus Patera on SS&A.

Orcus Patera on Mars thread on SS&A.

Hi EarthlingX,

I have copied your posts over on to the dedicated thread too, as you provided the incentive & best links.

Thank You very much for bringing this topic up about Orcus Patera. It IS a fascinating feature for sure. :mrgreen:

Andrew Brown.

Very good idea Andrew, thanks

I'll check for those two images i was yapping about and drop links there.

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.esa.int : Mars: how low can you go?

8 October 2010


Melas Chasma on Mars

There are few places on Mars lower than this. On the left of this image, the floor of Melas Chasma sinks nine kilometres below the surrounding plains. New images from ESA’s Mars Express highlight the complex history of this enormous martian canyon.

Melas Chasma is part of the huge Valles Marineris rift valley, which stretches for more than 4000 km across the surface of Mars. This image covers 200 x 100 km and covers an area of roughly 20 000 sq km, which is about the size of Slovenia. Around Melas Chasma, there is abundant evidence for water having flowed across Mars in the past. As well as ancient water-cut channels, there are lighter-coloured deposits of sulphate components that were probably deposited in a former lake.

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Elevation of Melas Chasma region on Mars

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Perspective view of the Melas Chasma

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[EarthlingX]

www.dlr.de : Light and dark in the Phoenix lake

12 November 2010


Phoenicis Lacus perspective view

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but with planets, first impressions do count. New images from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) operated High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft show where complex fault lines in the Red Planet’s Phoenicis Lacus region have resulted in terrain with a distinctly contrasting appearance.


Elevation of Phoenicis Lacus region

Nineteenth-century astronomers were the first to see Phoenicis Lacus on Mars. They identified it as a dark spot, and thought that it resembled a sea. Now we know that it is not a body of water but the southwestern extension of the complex Noctis Labyrinthus system, which stretches away from the giant volcanoes of Mars's Tharsis region.


Phoenicis Lacus perspective view

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webservices.esa.int : New Images From 11 November 2010 Added

11 November, 2010 20:52



New images have been posted to the image database. These images are from the VMC observation on 11 November 2010, for more details on this observation hit the "Full Story" link below. To access the images click the link below. Also you can access the Celestia file to see where the images were captured and access the raw data in the zip file (for more details see Help us with the VMC)

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[EarthlingX]

webservices.esa.int : New Images From 13 November 2010 Added

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13/11/2010 00:20-00:50 Gallery

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