Clays of Ladon Basin
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Clays of Ladon Basin
ESP_013045_1615  Science Theme: Composition and Photometry
Ladon Basin was a large impact structure that was filled in by the deposits from Ladon Valles, a major ancient river on Mars.

These wet sediments were altered into minerals such as various clay minerals. Clays imply chemistry that may have been favorable for life on ancient Mars, if anything lived there, so this could be a good spot for future exploration by rovers and perhaps return of samples to Earth.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (audio: Tre Gibbs)  (22 January 2018)
 
Acquisition date
08 May 2009

Local Mars time
15:08

Latitude (centered)
-18.407°

Longitude (East)
332.149°

Spacecraft altitude
259.9 km (161.5 miles)

Original image scale range
52.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~156 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
4.0°

Phase angle
40.2°

Solar incidence angle
44°, with the Sun about 46° above the horizon

Solar longitude
262.2°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  348.9°
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   (178MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (86MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (72MB)
non-map           (111MB)

IRB color
map projected  (25MB)
non-map           (101MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (193MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (174MB)

RGB color
non map           (91MB)
BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)
10K (TIFF)

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.