HiRISE | Small Crater on the North Polar Deposits (PSP_010180

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Small Crater on the North Polar Deposits
PSP_010180_2645 Science Theme: Polar Geology

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This image shows a small impact crater on the bright north polar perennial ice cap. Mars has ice caps at both its north and south poles. The perennial, or permanent, portion of the north polar cap consists almost entirely of water ice.

The impact crater is about 66 meters (215 feet) in diameter. Ejecta from this crater can be seen extending primarily to the northwest. The asymmetry in the crater ejecta can be an effect of atmospheric winds associated with the impact itself but, in this case, is most likely the result of an oblique impact (a low impact angle with respect to the horizontal). As impact angles decrease, the ejecta blanket is increasingly offset downrange.

The impactor that formed this crater approached the surface from the southeast. The slightly elliptical shape of the crater is also a result of an oblique impact.

Written by: Maria Banks (5 November 2008)

Acquisition date
27 September 2008

Local Mars time
13:38

Latitude (centered)
84.189°

Longitude (East)
32.300°

Spacecraft altitude
316.3 km (196.6 miles)

Original image scale range
from 31.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 63.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
1.3°

Phase angle
67.8°

Solar incidence angle
67°, with the Sun about 23° above the horizon

Solar longitude
133.5°, Northern Summer

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 120°
Sub-solar azimuth: 323.9°

JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (788MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (396MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (384MB)
non-map           (237MB)

IRB color
map projected (143MB)
non-map           (290MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (258MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (234MB)

RGB color
non map           (233MB)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

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:
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.