HiRISE | Bright and Dark Plains near Ganges Chasma (ESP_020061

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Bright and Dark Plains near Ganges Chasma
ESP_020061_1720 Science Theme: Geologic Contacts/Stratigraphy

WALLPAPER

800  1024
1152  1280
1440  1600
1920  2048
2560

HIFLYER

PDF, 11 x 17 in

This HiRISE image shows a mixture of bright and dark terrain along the plains just West of Ganges Chasma.

The concentration of these bright patches adjacent to an old impact crater suggests that the bright patches could represent ejecta from when the crater formed. This would be an interesting discovery because it would mean that a different unit underlies the surface we now see. Alternatively, much of the plains in this region appear to have a dark surficial cover, probably aeolian debris. Where this darker debris has been removed by the wind, the underlying brighter substrate would be exposed.

Mineralogic information from the CRISM instrument would be very useful for determining if the bright patches contain minerals indicative of water, such as clays, or if they are basalts produced from volcanic eruptions.

Written by: Cathy Weitz (5 January 2011)

Image Products: All image links are drag & drop for HiView, or click to download

JPEG
Grayscale: map projected non-map
IRB color: map projected non-map
Merged IRB: map projected
Merged RGB: map projected
RGB color: non-map projected

JP2 DOWNLOAD
Grayscale: map-projected (1479.3 MB)
IRB color: map-projected (662.9 MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Grayscale: map-projected (778.7 MB),
non-map (883.5 MB)

IRB color: map projected (296.8 MB)
non-map (717.5 MB)

Merged IRB: map projected (362.6 MB)
Merged RGB: map-projected (367.1 MB)
RGB color: non map-projected (650.6 MB)

ADDITIONAL IMAGE INFORMATION
Grayscale label Color label
Merged IRB label Merged RGB label
EDR products

About color products (PDF)
HiView main page
HiRISE Online Image Viewer

Observation Toolbox

Acquisition date:	06 November 2010	Local Mars time:	3:41 PM
Latitude (centered):	-7.979 degrees	Longitude (East):	306.182 degrees
Range to target site:	261.7 km (163.5 miles)	Original image scale range:	26.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~79 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale:	25 cm/pixel and North is up	Map projection:	EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle:	2.4 degrees	Phase angle:	53.7 degrees
Solar incidence angle:	56 degrees, with the Sun about 34 degrees above the horizon	Solar longitude:	176.6 degrees, Northern Summer
For non-map projected products:
North azimuth:	97 degrees	Sub-solar azimuth:	12.3 degrees
For map-projected products
North azimuth:	270 degrees	Sub solar azimuth:	187.1 degrees

NEARBY OBSERVATIONS

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: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Postscript
For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.