Anaglyph image of the triple crater in the southern highland region of Terra Sirenum
Anaglyph image of the triple crater in the southern highland region of Terra Sirenum
So-called anaglyph images can be created from the nadir channel of the HRSC camera system operated by DLR on board the ESA space probe Mars Express, which is directed vertically onto the surface of Mars, and the oblique view from one of the four stereo channels. When using red-blue or red-green glasses, they make a realistic, three-dimensional view of the landscape possible.
The triple crater (right half of the image) was very probably caused by a single asteroid that broke up into three parts prior to impact. North is to the right in the image. In the 3D view, several interesting landscape features vividly stand out– for example the ejecta blanket spread around the craters, and numerous small craterlets (secondary craters) that were created by chunks of rock ejected when the main craters were formed.
Almost vertically through the centre of the image, in an east-west direction, runs a straight rift valley, indicating that the Terra Sirenum highland was also exposed to tectonic forces. The majority of other large craters have heavily eroded. They hardly have any rims protruding above the environs and have a flat floor, indicating that material from the surroundings was carried into the interior of these craters by wind or water and deposited as sediments. These deposits may be partly volcanic in origin.