Who has an even bigger grin than ten years ago? That goofy looking crater on Mars.
These two images were taken with the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and show how the Martian surface changes over time – in this case due to thermal erosion.
The Smiley Crater on Mars in December 2020 as seen from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Photo credit: NASA / JPL / U of Arizona
The first of these images was taken in 2011 and the other in December 2020 around the same time of year and shows some different changes. According to the HiRISE team, there are color deviations that can be attributed to different amounts of light frost on a darker red background.
You will also see that some of the “blobby” functions have changed shape due to the heat from the sun causing sublimation – when a solid turns directly into a gas, bypassing the liquid phase. This thermal erosion has made the “mouth” of the face larger, and the “nose”, which in 2011 consisted of two circular indentations, has now grown and merged.
MRO is one of NASA’s oldest and most durable spacecraft. The mission started in 2005, reached Mars in 2006 and has been monitoring Mars ever since. HiRISE is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet and offers a variety of incredibly detailed images of Martian features. Some of our favorites over the years have been avalanches, dark currents that may be salty material seeping to the surface, images of our own spaceships and rovers on the Martian surface, and much more.
An avalanche on Mars that was captured by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on November 27, 2011. Photo credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.
However, a major advantage of a long-lived spacecraft is the ability to monitor changes in the events being observed. The HiRISE team has been documenting this “smiley face” for over a decade, which means that we now have good comparisons of the surface changes right next to our eyes.
“Measuring these changes during the Martian year helps scientists understand the annual deposition and removal of polar frost, and monitoring these locations over long periods of time helps us understand longer-term climate trends on the Red Planet,” wrote Ross Beyer, co-investigator of HiRISE.
For more amazing Mars images, check out the HiRISE website.
Like this:
Loading…
