HiPOD: Saturday, 22 October 2022
Southern Winter Frost Accumulations

Southern Winter Frost Accumulations
This enhanced color HiRISE image shows several craters somewhere in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. It was mid-winter in the Southern Hemisphere when we obtained this image (2016), so we can observe accumulating frost (neon blues) on pole-facing slopes (i.e. south-facing) and in shadowed areas.

However, the bluish deposits and ejecta deposits associated with the smaller crater we see are not consistent with frost deposits. These materials are most likely iron-bearing minerals that have not been previously oxidized (i.e., rusted), and have only recently been exposed to the surface when this small well-preserved crater was formed.

ID: ESP_044909_1450
date: 24 February 2016
altitude: 254 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_044909_1450
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA

Black & white is less than 5 km across; enhanced color is less than 1 km. For full observation details, visit the ID link.