Mars Photo of the Day - Mar 14 2012

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Today's Image of Mars is an amazing shot from Mars Express of Ceraunius Tholus (left) and Uranius Tholus (right). Ceraunius Tholus is 130km in diameter and 5.5km high, while Uranius Tholus has a diameter of 62km and a height of 4.5km.

Both Ceraunius and Uranius Tholus are located in the Tharsis Quadrangle of Mars, which was once a hotbed for volcanic activity on Mars. Clicking on this image will take you to the high resolution version. [See another image of Ceraunius Tholus and Uranius Tholus showcased by Mars Travel]

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Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 2 2011

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Today's Image of Mars shows Ceraunius Tholus (lower) and Uranius Tholus (upper), two Tharsis volcanoes on Mars. The fact that these volcanoes have craters on them tells us that the volcanoes are very old and inactive today. If they were active then lava flows would have covered any impact craters.

if you look at the bottom right of the larger Ceranius Tholus you will see that it is much lighter than the surrounding terrain. What you see are the deposits left from the global dust storm in 2001.

To give you some idea of scale, the large crater you see in the center of Ceraunius Tholus is approximately 25km in diameter. Ceraunius Tholus rises about as high above the Martian surface as Mt. Everest.

This image was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in 2001. Clicking on it will take you to the original image fact page from NASA.

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