Perspective view of a large crater and dune field in Charitum Montes
Perspective view of a large crater and dune field in Charitum Montes
Realistic perspective views of the surface of Mars can be generated from data acquired by the stereo and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which are oriented at an oblique angle with respect to the planet's surface. This image shows a crater almost 50 kilometres in diameter – approximately the size of the metropolitan area of Berlin. Under the northeastern rim of the crater a number of unusual, triangular black areas are visible. These are a field of dunes that the wind has deposited and heaped up in front of the 'obstacle' formed by the crater wall by carrying dark material – presumably ash or dust of volcanic origin.
Copyright note:
As a joint undertaking by DLR, ESA and FU Berlin, the Mars Express HRSC images are published under a Creative Commons licence since December 2014: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. This licence will also apply to all HRSC images released to date.