HiRISE | Conjoined Twins (ESP_020894

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Conjoined Twins
ESP_020894_1395 Science Theme: Landscape Evolution

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This image shows a remarkable double crater with a shared rim and North-South trending ejecta deposits. These two craters must have formed simultaneously.

The bolide may have consisted of two objects of the same mass that were loosely connected, perhaps similar to comet 103P/Hartley 2, which the Deep Impact spacecraft (EPOXI mission) encountered on 4 November 2010 (see here). Many more asteroids than comets impact Mars, but asteroids also come in double shapes, like asteroid Itokawa explored by the Japanese Huyabusa mission. The bolide must have separated into two distinct pieces prior to impact in order for two craters to be recognizable.
Written by: Alfred McEwen (9 February 2011)

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Acquisition date:	10 January 2011	Local Mars time:	3:42 PM
Latitude (centered):	-40.166 degrees	Longitude (East):	247.999 degrees
Range to target site:	250.1 km (156.3 miles)	Original image scale range:	50.0 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~150 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale:	50 cm/pixel and North is up	Map projection:	EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission angle:	1.4 degrees	Phase angle:	56.3 degrees
Solar incidence angle:	55 degrees, with the Sun about 35 degrees above the horizon	Solar longitude:	214.7 degrees, Northern Autumn
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North azimuth:	96 degrees	Sub-solar azimuth:	17.7 degrees
For map-projected products
North azimuth:	270 degrees	Sub solar azimuth:	191.8 degrees

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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.