HiRISE | Polar Pit Gullies (ESP_022156

NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Polar Pit Gullies
ESP_022156_1115 Science Theme: Seasonal Processes

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Numerous gullies that have formed along the southwestern wall of
an elongated shaped pit are visible in this image. This pit is located within a degraded 100 kilometer impact crater in the southern polar region of Mars.

Gullies originate along the rubbly, bouldery upper wall region and have eroded into the numerous layered wall units before terminating in fan deposits on the pit floor (see close-up image). A previous HiRISE image (ESP_020956_1115) of this location taken during the spring showed frost and interesting dark-toned flows within the gully channels. Neither frost nor dark flows are apparent in this summer-time image.

One goal of HiRISE is to repeat observations at locations such as this to detect changes that may lead to understanding how these gullies form.

Written by: Ginny Gulick (22 June 2011)

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Acquisition date:	18 April 2011	Local Mars time:	3:11 PM
Latitude (centered):	-68.5 degrees	Longitude (East):	1.3 degrees
Range to target site:	253.2 km (158.3 miles)	Original image scale range:	25.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~76 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale:	25 cm/pixel	Map projection:	POLAR STEREOGRAPHIC
Emission angle:	8.0 degrees	Phase angle:	46.3 degrees
Solar incidence angle:	52 degrees, with the Sun about 38 degrees above the horizon	Solar longitude:	276.6 degrees, Northern Winter
For non-map projected products:
North azimuth:	100 degrees	Sub-solar azimuth:	41.0 degrees
For map-projected products
North azimuth:	271.3 degrees	Sub solar azimuth:	212.7 degrees

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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

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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.