Perspective view of craters in Charitum Montes
Perspective view of craters 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. Its bowl-shaped depression has been filled to a substantial degree by thick layers of sedimentary deposits, forming a level floor. The sediments were transported and deposited by rivers entering through breaches in the north and west of the crater walls. Evidence of such a flow is visible in the right foreground. The uppermost – youngest – layer of these deposits shows a streaked pattern, attesting to its transportation and deposition by flowing water.
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.