South Polar Spiral
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
South Polar Spiral
ESP_049115_0955  Science Theme: Polar Geology
This hill in the South Polar layered deposits has influenced the erosion of the icy layers. The hill protects the layers from erosion, so the pattern of erosion to the sides of the hill forms a beautiful spiral pattern.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (audio: Tre Gibbs)  (6 April 2017)
 
Acquisition date
17 January 2017

Local Mars time
16:26

Latitude (centered)
-84.666°

Longitude (East)
227.820°

Spacecraft altitude
247.6 km (153.9 miles)

Original image scale range
49.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~149 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
50 cm/pixel

Map projection
Polarstereographic

Emission angle
5.0°

Phase angle
63.8°

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

Solar longitude
300.9°, Northern Winter

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  124°
Sub-solar azimuth:  55.6°
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   (50MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (63MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (28MB)
non-map           (34MB)

IRB color
map projected  (20MB)
non-map           (73MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (54MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (64MB)

RGB color
non map           (69MB)
BONUS
4K (TIFF)
8K (TIFF)

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.