Fresh Crater North of Tharsis Region
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Fresh Crater North of Tharsis Region
ESP_019641_2310  Science Theme: Impact Processes
This impact crater is approximately one kilometer in diameter. The ejecta blanket (remnants of the material from the original impact) is still visible indicating that the crater may be very fresh.

But what do we mean by the word “fresh,” or even “recent,” as some craters are described? When talking about craters on Mars, both terms are relative: the impact that created the crater in this observation could have occurred millions of years ago! We can often differentiate between older and younger craters by looking at their rims. A crater rim that appears more defined or sharp, versus one that is clearly eroded, indicates the former is more recent, or “fresh.“

The Tharsis region on Mars is home to some of the largest shield volcanos on the Red Planet, including the largest, Olympus Mons.

This caption is based on the original science rationale.

Written by: HiRISE Science Team  (29 November 2010)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_019140_2310.
 
Acquisition date
04 October 2010

Local Mars time
15:14

Latitude (centered)
50.819°

Longitude (East)
241.912°

Spacecraft altitude
302.3 km (187.9 miles)

Original image scale range
31.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~94 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
14.6°

Phase angle
71.9°

Solar incidence angle
58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizon

Solar longitude
158.9°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  98°
Sub-solar azimuth:  338.1°
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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.