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16.10.2007
HRSC Press Release #346 - Maunder Crater (orbit 2412, 2467)
]')) RGB Colour Image #1 |
On 29 November and 14 December 2005 the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), under the leadership of the Principal Investigator Prof. Dr. Gerhard Neukum of Freie Universitaet Berlin, onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express obtained image data in orbits 2412 and 2467 with a ground resolution of approximately 15 meters per pixel. The data were acquired in the region of Noachis Terra at approximately 50° southern latitude and 2° eastern longitude. The sun illuminates the scene from the north-east (from top left in the image).
]')) Context Map |
The Maunder Crater, located halfway between Argyre Planitia and Hellas Planitia on the southern Highlands of Mars, was named after the British astronomer Edward W. Maunder (1851 - 1928). With a diameter of 90 kilometers and a current depth of barely 900 meters, the crater is not one of the largest impact craters on Mars, but it used to be much deeper and was partly filled with large amounts of material in the past.
]')) Perspective view #1 |
The west of the crater experienced a major slope failure, during which a large landslide transported unconsolidated material eastward to the inner parts of the crater. The tear-off edges of the crater rim exhibit gullies which could be associated with the mass transport.
]')) Nadir Image #1 |
Der Übergang zu dem relativ glatten östlichen Teil des Kraterinneren ist durch eine hügelige, unebene Landschaft geprägt. Die Ursachen, die zur Genese dieser Landschaftsform führen, waren lange umstritten. Sie entsteht (unter anderem) im Zuge großer Rutschungen, bei denen sowohl sehr große Gesteinsfragmente wie auch feineres Sediment transportiert werden. Die Ablagerung des transportierten Materials führt zur Bildung dieser Morphologie (vgl. Mount St. Helens, USA).
So called "Hummocky Terrain" constitutes the transition zone from the western rim of the crater to the rather smooth crater floor on the eastern edge of the impact crater. The origin of this morphology, exhibiting small irregularly shaped hills and valleys, was long a mystery. The Hummocky Terrain in the Maunder Crater was formed by deposition of landslide debris (cf. Mount St. Helens, USA).
]')) Perspective view #2 |
Auffällig sind weiterhin kleine (500 bis 2500 Meter) dunkle Strukturen am Kraterboden, bei denen es sich um so genannte Barchane (Sicheldünen) handelt, eine der häufigsten Dünenformen arider (trockener) Klimate. Auf der Erde findet man Sicheldünen besonders eindrucksvoll unter anderem in der westafrikanischen Namib-Wüste. Dort bilden sich derartige Dünen bei konstanten Windrichtungen und wandern relativ schnell.
In the east, the crater floor is bounded by an approximately 700 meters deep trough. It may be associated with the landslide on the western edge of the crater. Some gullies formed on the upper edge of the through - possible evidence for water seepage.
Eye-catching are small (500 to 2500 Meters) dark features on the crater floor. These features are Barchan dunes, one of the most abundant dune forms in arid environment. One can find dunes of this kind on earth e.g. in the West-African Namib desert.
]')) Red-cyan anaglyph #1 |
The colour scenes have been derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channels. The perspective views have been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the HRSC stereo channels. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir channeles and two stereo channels. For the first time an anaglyph mosaic was composed using HRSC Data.
Das Kameraexperiment HRSC auf der Mission Mars Express der
Europäischen Weltraumorganisation ESA wird vom Principal Investigator Prof. Dr.
Gerhard Neukum (Freie Universität Berlin), der auch die technische Konzeption der
hochauflösenden Stereokamera entworfen hatte, geleitet. Das
Wissenschaftsteam besteht aus 40 Co-Investigatoren aus 33 Institutionen und zehn
Nationen. Die Kamera wurde am Deutschen Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) unter der
Leitung des Principal Investigators (PI) G. Neukum entwickelt und in Kooperation mit
industriellen Partnern gebaut (EADS Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH und Jena
-Optronik GmbH). Sie wird vom DLR -Institut für Planetenforschung in Berlin-Adlershof
betrieben. Die systematische Prozessierung der Daten erfolgt am DLR. Die Darstellungen
wurden vom Institut für Geologische Wissenschaften der FU Berlin in Zusammenarbeit
mit dem DLR-Institut für Planetenforschung erstellt.
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) experiment on the ESA Mars Express Mission is led by the
Principal Investigator (PI) Prof. Dr. Gerhard Neukum who also designed the camera technically. The
science team of the experiment consists of 40 Co-Investigators from 33 institutions and 10 nations.
The camera was developed at the German
Aerospace Center (DLR) under
the leadership of the PI G. Neukum and built in cooperation with industrial partners (EADS
Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH and Jena-Optronik GmbH). The experiment on Mars Express
is operated by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research, through ESA/ESOC. The systematic
processing of the HRSC image data is carried out at DLR. The scenes shown here were created
by the PI-group at the Institute for Geological Sciences of the Freie Universitaet Berlin in
cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin.
Download
hochaufgelöste Bilddaten / high resolution image data
| Context Map: |
| Nadir Image #1: |
| RGB Colour Image #1: |
| Red-cyan anaglyph #1: |
| Perspective view #1: |
| Perspective view #2: |
© Copyright: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
