HiRISE | Deformed Craters and Polygons in Utopia Planitia (ESP_017260

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Deformed Craters and Polygons in Utopia Planitia
ESP_017260_2225 Science Theme: Climate Change

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This image of Utopia Planitia shows some deformed craters. The crater rims are not round but elliptical and even angular.

The region is interesting because there are surface features (e.g., polygonal cracks) which suggest that water ice is close to the surface. A good example is just to the south of the featured image here. Other craters in the area appear old and eroded. Many are filled with material which could contain quantities of water ice. Were these deformed craters the result of an oblique impact or were they deformed afterwards by an as-yet unknown process?

Written by: Nicolas Thomas (5 May 2010)

Acquisition date
02 April 2010

Local Mars time
14:58

Latitude (centered)
42.153°

Longitude (East)
89.970°

Spacecraft altitude
299.4 km (186.1 miles)

Original image scale range
30.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~90 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
6.4°

Phase angle
47.4°

Solar incidence angle
41°, with the Sun about 49° above the horizon

Solar longitude
72.1°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 97°
Sub-solar azimuth: 353.7°

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   (1330MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (592MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (646MB)
non-map           (638MB)

IRB color
map projected (265MB)
non-map           (488MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (364MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (376MB)

RGB color
non map           (471MB)

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.