MOC Continued

Palomar · 2005-06-23 12:14:35

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 089]Ejecta from small impact crater

*The crater is ho-hum; it's the ejecta pattern which catches the eye. Looks like a hawk with wings fully spread. Says this pattern is the result of an oblique impact.

Points out that the ejecta actually has two tones:

with dark material near the crater and brighter material further away--might indicate the nature of subsurface materials

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-06-27 07:04:03

http://http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17117]Two-toned surface

*This is from the West Tithonium region. They're speculating it's exposed sedimentary rock. The ripples set the photo off, particularly the dark-topped ripples within the lighter regions.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-06-30 04:40:04

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … Defrosting in the south polar region

*Reminds me of pine trees from above, at a great distance, and their shadows. Looks like the snow plow has been out again as well. :;):

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 7172]Broad western flows from Arsia Mons

THEMIS image. Such patchy terrain. Can see wind streaks too. And makes me a bit nervous...ever notice how in the really upclose pics of Mars, there are more craters than initial impressions give from a further distance? Yipes. Of course that's to be expected, to a point. Future Martians better carry steel umbrellas.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-07-05 14:46:01

Its]http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17225]It's psychedelic Mars, baby!

*Such interesting swirls and whorls. Is a THEMIS image; looks like spaceref.com is hosting more "Images as Art." They mention bears in the caption... :hm:

It also looks like Astrid's cooked fudge 'n marshmallow frosting.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-07-07 05:49:23

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17237]Nili Vanilli ... whoops

*No, wait -- that's Nili Patera Dunes. LOL.

Anywho, they're located within a volcanic crater in the Syrtis Major region. Winds blowing from the NE.

Dark ribbons of dunes. Nice photo.

--Cindy

REB · 2005-07-08 10:15:16

http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e19_r02 … 25.html]If you like Mars art Gale Crater is a great place to look.

Palomar · 2005-07-14 09:28:52

*REB: Nice photos of Gale Crater.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 4]{{insert eerie "Dark Shadows" theme music}}

Is a THEMIS image. It does look like a ...

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 25]Martian tic-tac-toe?

I like "THEMIS Images as Art". :laugh:

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-07-15 10:38:04

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 1]Changing southern Martian pole cap 1999 - 2005

*Took a while to download and isn't as impressive as I'd anticipated.

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 32]Another buried dragon's spine?

Area is so riddled with "little" craters...wow.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-07-15 20:21:35

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17348]One of the strangest photos yet

*Is another "THEMIS Images as Art." A double crater? And that ridge nearly perfectly dividing it. Ejecta on either side? But if so, why the elongated ejecta pattern? ???

Intriguing.

--Cindy

hubricide · 2005-07-16 13:51:59

If a meteor split in two sometime right before it hit the ground, the halves would strike nearly simultaneously and be just far enough apart to make this sort of structure. The two ejecta spurts (and bisecting ridge) would be caused by the two fountains of debris interfering with each other and just falling to the ground.

Interesting formation, though, weird that there aren't more of these..

Palomar · 2005-07-17 22:08:48

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17360]This pic looks EXACTLY like...

*...a desert arroyo. And I mean immediately after rapid waters have passed through. No, I'm not insinuating nor suggesting *current/very recent* water has passed through this region of Mars, but the similarity is striking. "A desert arroyo!" was my immediate first thought. Which of course won't mean much to folks who haven't seen a desert arroyo themselves...but thought I'd mention it anyway. Everything is familiar in this pic: The ultrasmooth and gentle contours, the looks-damp-yet-is-dry look, the erosion of soft sediments.

This area is NW of Jovis Tholus. Cool name. Some future Mars rock 'n roll band should name themselves Jovis Tholus.

The terrain is presently mantled with fine dust.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-07-22 05:20:57

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … on-cracked plain

*South polar region. Pic taken April 2005.

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 7430]Yipes! I'm almost getting dizzy...

...looking down at that. Is a THEMIS image. Cool tiny crater within the crater. Looks like very "bumpy" terrain running nearly through the middle of the large crater.

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 1]Infilled crater

Interesting. Looks like someone stamped out a gargantuan cigar in the middle of it.

--Cindy

Josh Cryer · 2005-07-22 05:25:21

Morning Cindy!

::waves::

My, those THEMIS images are absolutely breathtaking. I have a feeling that the interior substrate is full of explorable caves, so I can picture just walking around down there with canyon walls off in the distance, kicking some rocks around, perhaps getting out of the days sun because the spacesuit is too hot (its cooler is malfunctioning a bit) and the sun is annoying with my visor up.

And to think, MOR is going to show even MORE. Details so sharp you can make out rocks the size of a medium sized desk!

Palomar · 2005-07-26 15:22:54

*Hi Josh.

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 490]Radial spokes indeed

Ay carrumba, that must have been one hell of an impact. :shock:

So grooved. Yeah, the word "ballistic" seems really apt here.

THEMIS image.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-01 19:38:31

*A couple of pics which can't be passed up:

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … Nilosyrtis Dunes

A rare patch of dark dunes.

-and-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 569]Frozen Carbon Dioxide

Such interesting textures.

There is no place on Earth that one can go to visit a landscape covering thousands of square kilometers with frozen carbon dioxide, so mesas, pits, and other landforms of the martian south polar region are as alien as they are beautiful.

Indeed.

The scarps of the south polar region are known from thousands of other MGS MOC images to retreat at a rate of about 3 meters (~3 yards) per martian year, indicating that slowly, over the course of the MGS mission, the amount of carbon dioxide in the martian atmosphere has probably been increasing.

--Cindy

Yang Liwei Rocket · 2005-08-04 16:17:03

this has been a very good mission 8)

Palomar · 2005-08-09 05:35:36

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … 6]Spangled patterns

*I've not seen a defrosting/dethawing pic from Mars quite like this before. Is from the south polar region.

Unknown is whether the streaks form when wind picks up, moves, and deposits ice particles, or whether wind erodes down into the ice to form the streak pattern.

-*-

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=17654]I adore these sorts of dunes especially

They bottom-most look like Hershey's Kisses.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-10 06:10:20

http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.htm … ]Windblown dunes

*...in the western Arabia Terra region, within a crater. Strange photo with a ghostly appearance.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-15 07:39:28

South Polar Depression

*Cool. Check it out.

These features occur in the south polar residual cap of Mars. The eroding carbon dioxide creates landforms reminiscent of "Swiss cheese". The circular feature might indicate the location of a filled, buried impact crater.

-*-

Martian Gullies

gullies cut into layered rock and debris on the wall of a south middle-latitude crater. Gullies such as these are common at middle latitudes and may have required water to form.

I love MOC. What fantastic photos.

-*-

Polar layers

image shows a slope upon which are exposed some of the layered materials that underlie the south polar cap of Mars. The layers are generally considered to be sediments--perhaps dust--that may have been cemented by water ice.

Of course it's a noncolor photo and reminds me of cloud bands on Jupiter in noncolor pics of it.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-18 05:46:43

Kidney bean-shaped pits.

*Lol... Reminds me of certain types of cells (microscopy slide).

This images shows one of about a dozen different patterns that are common in various locations across the martian south polar residual cap, an area that has been receiving intense scrutiny by the MGS MOC this year, because it is visible on every orbit and in daylight for most of 2005.

Photos from the polar caps are among the most unique and interesting, IMO.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-19 15:45:57

Polar Polygons

*Lots of MOC photos from south polar region rolling in recently. The surface frost (all around) looks like it'd be really crunchy to walk on; I mean sharp-sounding crunchy. I wonder how thick the frost is. Is it me, or can you see separations in the frost and perhaps edges curling up a bit?

In summer, this surface would not be bright and the polygons would not have dark outlines--these are a product of the presence of seasonal frost.

-*-

South Polar Layers

More defrosting. Looks like the snowplow's been out again.

Hey, would carbon dioxide frost burn like dry ice if you touched it?

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2005-08-20 01:09:00

Cindy:-

More defrosting. Looks like the snowplow's been out again.
Hey, would carbon dioxide frost burn like dry ice if you touched it?

That picture reminds me of wood grain.
And yes, I think CO2 frost would burn you. Dry ice is just solid CO2, after all. The only difference would be the consistency of the frost, which I imagine would be fluffier. :?:

Palomar · 2005-08-22 19:17:12

The Defrosting South

*Like...this is so happening. I'm tripping out.

Okay, seriously...There are 3 distinct patterns here. The upper portion shows what seems rather uniform and mostly straight rows of ... whatever ...; then there's the central "white" with "black" polka-dotted region which resembles a paisley pattern; then the irregular patches at the bottom which resemble the top portion in appearance but not in distribution; they're irregular.

Very unique.

-*-

This is even weirder

:shock:

Sediments of Arabia. I'd like to see that photo in color. In noncolor...I don't know what it looks like. :?

-*-

West Argyre

Looks like long, sharply jagged edges on the "leading" formations on the right side of the photo.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2005-08-26 11:26:25

*Geez, I wish this pic were wider:

Valley Crossing

:x Feels as though you're being forced to squint, lol. But is interesting. That ridge in the upper portion of the photo, "lighter" in color, reminds me of a segment of small intestine. And I often wonder how high/tall these formations are.

-*-

Yardang it!

Yep...more yardangs in southern Amazonis region.

-*-

This photo won't display for me:

Terby's Rocks

You?

Sometimes the NASA MPoD aren't viewable until the next day, it seems.

--Cindy

Shaun Barrett · 2005-08-26 19:09:43

Cindy:-

Looks like long, sharply jagged edges on the "leading" formations on the right side of the photo.

Yes it does. Almost like enormous jagged crystalline structures.

-- Some experts think Mars had seas in its past and I think they're probably right. I often wonder what the floor of the Mediterranean Sea or the Gulf of Mexico might look like if the water were gradually to evaporate away.
-- Some of the images of Mars, like this one from Argyre, look to me very much as I imagine a dried up sea floor might appear. And, of course, there's evidence that the Argyre basin was once the upland reservoir for a major drainage system; the water flowing from Argyre, downhill through Hale Crater, via Uzboi Vallis into Holden Crater, then northward through Margaritifer Terra and Ares Vallis into the Chryse region of the Northern Lowlands.
-- If you get a chance to look at this series of interconnected basins, craters, and channels on a topographic globe of Mars, you'll find it very difficult to imagine that anything but enormous quantities of water were involved in its creation. And I remember reading that some authorities believe this channel system has carried water, on and off, over much of Martian history

So, my opinion of that picture of the Argyre basin, at least until more data comes in, is that we're looking at vast deposits of evaporites (salts), left over from a watery past.
-- Just a thought - I may be wrong, of course.

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Re: MOC Continued

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