Jump to content

File:PIA22896-Mars-SpiderlikeTerrain-20181211.jpg

Page contents not supported in other languages.
This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Original file (2,880 × 1,800 pixels, file size: 1.14 MB, MIME type: image/jpeg)

Summary

Description
English: PIA22896: The Enduring Charm of Martian Spiders

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22896

Araneiform terrain (colloquially: spider-like terrain) is located in the south polar region of Mars and evolves in appearance over the spring and summer. In the season shown here, the thin bright lines on the surface (the spider legs) are troughs and many of these features have dark fan-shaped markings emanating from them.

Our current theory for how these patterns are formed is that during winter a carbon dioxide ice layer develops over the surface. When sun rays strike this surface, this carbon dioxide ice acts in a similar way to our atmosphere: it allows the sun light to penetrate but traps the infrared radiation creating a greenhouse-like effect.

The trapped heat transforms the ice at the bottom of the layer to gas, building up pressure until it bursts through. When that happens, the gas flows out in geyser-like fashion and carries dust with it, which falls back to the surface to form the dark fans.

The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 24.6 centimeters (9.7 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 74 centimeters (29.1 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Date
Source https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA22896.jpg
Author NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Licensing

Public domain This file is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)
Warnings:

Captions

Add a one-line explanation of what this file represents

Items portrayed in this file

depicts

11 December 2018

File history

Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.

Date/TimeThumbnailDimensionsUserComment
current21:37, 11 December 2018Thumbnail for version as of 21:37, 11 December 20182,880 × 1,800 (1.14 MB)DrbogdanUser created page with UploadWizard

The following page uses this file:

Global file usage

The following other wikis use this file: