Mars Photo of the Day - Nov 8 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is one of the most well known images of Mars. It was taken by the Hubble Telescope on August 27 2003. You can see the clearly defined south polar ice cap, as well as many other features. This is the most detailed view of Mars ever taken from Earth. 

I suggest that you click on the image because it links to the NASA page, which provides much more detail.

I would provide more detail here, but I am at NASA Langley for the #NASATweetup and don't really have time.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Nov 7 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is once again of Homestake, that mysterious vein Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is currently inspecting. This was compiled by Stuart Atkinson from The Road to Endeavour from a collection of images taken by Opportunity's microscopic imager. 

The image shows that Homestead is weathered and covered with grooves. Homestead is denser than the surrounding material, making it more resistant to weathering. But just what is Homestead made of? 

While the MER team has not announced anything officially, Atkinson reports that many MER forums are abound with the theory that Homestead is made of the mineral magnesite. For more information on that particular mineral I suggest you highlight the the word "Magnesite" on my page; The Wikipedia page on Magnesite should pop up into a little window, telling you all you want to know about that mineral, and more! 

This image links to Atkinson's post with this image on The Road to Endeavour.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Nov 3 2011

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Today's Image of Mars shows a mesa on the eastern floor of Aram Chaos, a 1300km (~800mi) diameter depression. (A mesa is a hill/mountain with a flat top) It is thought that a cataclysmic amount of water was released from this depression, which led to the creation of the 2000km long outflow channel, Ares Vallis.

Surrounding the center mesa you can see many isolated hills and eroding mesas. A variety of dune fields are visible in this image. The interplay between the dunes, eroded land forms, and light and dark-toned materials enables scientists to determine the relative age of each feature, as well as the composition of the interacting materials.

Clicking on this image will take you to a related, captioned image by HiRISE. This image is a subimage of that captioned image.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 20 2011

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Today we have a compilation of images from Mars taken by HiRISE. These images all show the same central structures in Horowitz Crater.  The images span over a period of close to two years and show changes in slope features. These changes are thought to be indicative of flowing water on Mars. 

The features that seem to extend down the slope are called Recurring Slope Linae (RSL). Repeated imaging has shown that these features appear and gradually grow during the warm season on Mars, only to fade during the cold season. It is thought that the best explanation for these recurring features is the existence of briny water just below the surface, but that is unconfirmed as of yet.

Mars Travel wrote an article about these findings the day they were released. [View This Article]

This series of photos was published with many others and an article in the journal Science on August 5 2011. This photo will link to the larger high resolution images, but if you want to see the HiRISE article and abstract from Science on these features, you can find them here.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 19 2011

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Today's Image of Mars shows some stunning sand dunes. The ridges on these dunes resemble thousands of legs and create the illusion that we are seeing millipedes, thus the reason HiRISE labeled this image "The Millipedes of Mars?"

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find much information about these particular dunes, but the placement nnd quantity of ridges you see do make for a fascinating image don't they?

To see the captioned image from HiRISE simply click on this image.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 18 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of a rock dubbed Sheba by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity team. Sheba is in the area where the highest levels of phyllosilicates have been detected from orbit. 

This is just one of many intriguing science targets Opportunity has passed by in its search to find a north facing slope where the rover will wait out the oncoming Martian winter. 

This image was colored by Stuart Atkinson from The Road to Endeavour and it links to the article containing this image.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 15 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of Athabasca Valles, an outflow channel on Mars created by catastrophic flooding. The source of water for the flooding is most likely Cerberus Fossae, a series of fissures and scarps on the surface of Mars. 

It's difficult to tell how long ago the floods in Athabasca Valles occurred because they have almost entirely been covered by a lava flow the size of Oregon. This lava flow is considered the youngest discovered on Mars and is believed to have developed during the Amazonian Epoch, around 3 billion years ago.

This image links to the original captioned image from Mars Odyssey Orbiter's Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS).

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 13 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is is a color mosaic of the "Kirkland Lake" boulder field, as compiled and colored by The Road to Endeavour's Stuart Atkinson from images taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

Opportunity is now leaving all this behind as the MER team directs it toward the location of the low-acidic clays detected by CRISM and HiRISE in orbit. The MER team is hoping that these clays can tell them more about how hospitable Mars was in the past.

This image links to the larger, amazing version from The Road to Endeavour, but the post in which the image is found is here. The small photo below really doesn't do the image justice because the original is extremely detailed.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 12 2011

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Today's Image of Mars gives us a glimpse of a possible source for the outflow channels that have so drastically shaped the surface of Mars.  The large depression in the ground is likely where millions of tons of ground water erupted onto the surface of Mars. This generally occurs due to a rupture of the surface, usually the result of a meteorite impact or past tectonic activity on the planet. 

This particular scarp is located in Aurorae Chaos, which is 750 km in diameter and located at the eastern end of Valles Marineris. Aurorae Chaos is the largest discovered area on Mars of chaos terrain, or terrain where cracks, ridges, and plains appear jumbled together in a random and chaotic manner. 

This image links to the original captioned image from HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 11 2011

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Today's Image of Mars shows a lava flow on Olympus Mons' northwestern side. This is just one example of the many lava flows on the solar system's largest volcano. Flows like these occur when lava pushes through the ground and leaves a path behind it. Many of the lava flows on Mars are currently inactive and thus leave behind hollow tubes like this one, though some are still active

This image links to the original image from HiRISE, though they have not currently provided a caption.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 10 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of layered deposits in the southern polar regions of Mars. This images clearly shows how drastically the layers can differ from each other in appearance. The changes in color and content of deposits generally reflects changes in the climate on Mars during the time of deposit.

This image links to the original image from HiRISE, but they do not currently provide a caption.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 9 2011

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Today's Image of Mars was taken by the Viking II Orbiter on June 7 1977. It shows wave clouds near the Martian south pole. These clouds result from wind passing over craters and picking up dust from the last global dust storm.

Unfortunately this image isn't as colorful or interesting as some, but it is important because it helps us to understand more about the Martian environment.

This photo of Mars links to the NASA's page for the photo.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 8 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity when it was at Victoria Crater, located in Meridiani Planum. This image was taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2006. Opportunity is currently along the rim of Endeavour crater, where it has begun a new mission.

Clicking on this image will take you to all posts related to Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 6 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of a central peak in one of Mars' unnamed craters. These colorful rocks are the result of variations in mineral content due to water activity sometime in Mars' past. 

Who would have guessed that Mars could be home to such a beautiful array of colors?

Click the image to see the original captioned photo from HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 5 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of the amazing dunes found in Richardson Crater. Richardson Crater is located in the south polar region of Mars, where it goes through dramatic temperature changes throughout the year. The dark streaks are due to the movement of material as a result of wind and defrosting. 

These dunes are just another example of the remarkable landscapes to be found on Mars.

This image links to the original captioned image by HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 4 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of Shoemaker Ridge, which is the next destination for Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.  Once again, Stuart Atkinson of The Road to Endeavour assembled and colored this amazing image. His work helps excite the whole world about Opportunity's exploration by transforming the raw images into beautiful scenes that make everyone who sees them envious of the Mars rover. 

Shoemaker ridge promises to provide a spectacular view of the surrounding area and very possibly the most amazing photos of Mars yet! We will definitely keep you updated with the Mars Photo of the Day!

This photo links to the post on The Road to Endeavour where this image of shoemaker ridge was compiled and colored from Oppy's raw images. 

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 1 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is remarkable because that little white dot you see is none other than Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The photo was taken at the exact right time, and in the exact right position, that the sun was reflecting off of Spirit's solar panels. Apparently this was done completely by accident and was a surprise to the HiRISE team when they discovered it. Spirit was last heard from on March 22 2010; this photo was taken on May 25 2011. 

This image links to the original with the caption provided by HiRISE.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Sept 24 2011

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Today's Mars Photo was taken by by Viking I Orbiter as Phobos' shadow passed over the surface of Mars. Viking I Lander took a simultaneous picture, which was used in conjunction with the Orbiter's image identify the position of the shadow, and thus the lander itself. The shadow of Phobos is in the center of the image and is about 60 by 120km across and in the Chryse Planitia region just a few kilometers north of the Viking I Lander. Maurnee Vallis is shown in the below and to the left of the center shadow.

This image is larger than the original so it will link to the Wikipedia Page called   Transit of Phobos from Mars

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Mars Photo of the Day - Sept 22 2011

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Today's Mars Photo was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on a rock being called Salisbury. Oppy been brushing this area clean of dust and drilling into it with its rock abrasion tool for the past few days. This allow the rover to get a view of the 'raw' rock beneath the weathered, dust-covered surface. The rover is continuing to use its microscopic imager to determine what the rock is made of and learn more about its past. 

This photo was colored by The Road to Endeavour Blog, one of the leading authorities on everything related to MER Opportunity. Clicking on the image below will take you to the post where he discusses Salisbury in much more detail with numerous photos.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Sept 21 2011

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Today's Mars Photo is of gullies in Avire Crater as taken by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera. There is a large amount of controversy as to how the gullies formed, but since the debris seems to be flowing down the crater it likely required carbon dioxide or water in a liquid state. The crater is under regular observation from HiRISE to note any changes.

This image links to a larger version of this image witth a caption provided by HiRISE.

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