A Young, Fresh Crater in Hellespontus
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
A Young, Fresh Crater in Hellespontus
ESP_043398_1600  Science Theme: Impact Processes
This is a textbook example of a morphologically fresh and simple impact crater. At 1.3 kilometers in diameter, this unnamed crater is only slightly larger than Arizona’s Barringer (aka Meteor) Crater, by about 200 meters. Note the simple bowl shape and the raised crater rim.

Rock and soil excavated out of the crater by the impacting meteor—called ejecta—forms the ejecta deposit. It is continuous for about one crater radius away from the rim and is likely composed of about 90 percent ejecta and 10 percent in-place material that was re-worked by both the impact and the subsequently sliding ejecta.

The discontinuous ejecta deposit extends from about one crater radius outward. Here, high velocity ejecta that was launched from close to the impact point—and got the biggest kick—flew a long way, landed, rolled, slid, and scoured the ground, forming long tendrils of ejecta and v-shaped ridges.

Written by: Kirby Runyon (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (13 January 2016)
 
Acquisition date
30 October 2015

Local Mars time
15:03

Latitude (centered)
-19.839°

Longitude (East)
31.288°

Spacecraft altitude
256.1 km (159.2 miles)

Original image scale range
51.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~154 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.3°

Phase angle
59.9°

Solar incidence angle
61°, with the Sun about 29° above the horizon

Solar longitude
61.5°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  47.0°
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4K (TIFF)

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HiView

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IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
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Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
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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:
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.