Pits in Hale Crater Ejecta
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Pits in Hale Crater Ejecta
ESP_039524_1445  Science Theme: Impact Processes
The pits visible here aren’t impact craters. The material they’re embedded into is ejecta (stuff thrown out of an impact crater when it forms) from a large crater called Hale which is not seen in this image.

Substances called “volatiles”—which can explode as gases when they’re quickly warmed by the immense heat of an impact—exploded out of the ejecta and caused these pits. Unrelated sand dunes near the top of the image have since blown over portions of the pits.

Written by: Kirby Runyon (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (28 January 2015)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_039801_1445.
 
Acquisition date
01 January 2015

Local Mars time
15:10

Latitude (centered)
-35.099°

Longitude (East)
320.418°

Spacecraft altitude
253.6 km (157.6 miles)

Original image scale range
50.8 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~152 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
2.8°

Phase angle
39.4°

Solar incidence angle
42°, with the Sun about 48° above the horizon

Solar longitude
263.6°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  6.9°
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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.