Colorful Surface near Nili Fossae
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Colorful Surface near Nili Fossae
ESP_019753_2000  Science Theme: Composition and Photometry
This enhanced-color image shows a surface with diverse colors just southwest of Nili Fossae. The color diversity of this mesa suggests that the surface has a varied composition, perhaps recording chemical processes of ancient Mars.

Much of the surface shows a chaotic mix of colors, but the northern impact crater exposes distinct layers. Different layers have different colors. There are several possible reasons for this: the events that formed the layers could have drawn material from different sources, or the layers could have been altered differently after they formed, for reasons such as varying porosity.

Written by: Colin Dundas (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (29 August 2012)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_019898_2000.
 
Acquisition date
13 October 2010

Local Mars time
15:39

Latitude (centered)
19.728°

Longitude (East)
72.456°

Spacecraft altitude
278.8 km (173.3 miles)

Original image scale range
29.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~88 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
18.3°

Phase angle
36.3°

Solar incidence angle
55°, with the Sun about 35° above the horizon

Solar longitude
163.5°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  96°
Sub-solar azimuth:  359.2°
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   (1110MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (483MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (569MB)
non-map           (471MB)

IRB color
map projected  (186MB)
non-map           (409MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (300MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (287MB)

RGB color
non map           (405MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

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.