Martian Crater
Image Title: Martian Crater
Release Date: October 14, 2005
Source: Mars Global Surveyor
Description
When Mariner 4, the first robotic mission to Mars, flew past that planet the images that it returned were a great disappointment. In what was a surprise to the planetary science community, the images revealed a cratered Mars. Dead were the dreams of an Earth-like Mars that was a home to primitive plant life.
There is one major difference though between the craters that we see on Mars and the craters that we see on the Moon. Unlike the Moon, Martian craters exhibit a wide variety of morphologies. From splosh craters to rampart craters to craters filled with sedimentary deposits, the craters of Mars reveal a complex history of formation and weathering.
The crater shown here is a simple crater that shows little weathering. Look closely and you can see rays extending out from the crater rim. These rays were created by the ejecta at the time of impact. The crater is approximately 4 kilometers in diameter.
Martian Crater Source Image Background
The source image was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Narrow Angle Camera in July 1998. The target area lies in the Cebrenia quadrangle of Mars and is centered on 33.25° latitude, 238.6° longitude.
Martian Crater Image Processing
All processing of this image was done with Adobe Photoshop. Note that this is a false color image. The colors used to create this image were chosen based on colorization done to similar images by NASA.
Martian Crater Wallpaper Download
I have created a low resolution, compressed version of "Martian Crater" for use as a desktop wallpaper. Note that this wallpaper version is made available for your personal use only. It is not to be modified or redistributed in any form by any means. All rights are retained by the artist.
