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> Mars -Syrtis Major. Fish-eye view.

Mars -Syrtis Major. Fish-eye view.

author: USGS/Novapix

reference: a-mar04-00025

Image Size 300 DPI: 38 * 38 cm

Mosaic of the Syrtis Major hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. This mosaic is composed of about 100 red and violet filter Viking Orbiter images, digitally mosaicked in an point perspective projection. The images were acquired in 1980 during early northern summer on Mars. The center of this image is near latitude 0 degrees, longitude 310 degrees, and the limits of this mosaic are approximately latitude -60 to 60 and longitude 260 to 350. The color variations have been enhanced by a factor of two, and the large-scale brightness normalized by large-scale filtering. The large circular area located in the upper left area of the image is know as Arabia. The boundary between the ancient, heavily-cratered southern highlands and the younger northern plains occurs far to the north (latitude 40) on this side of the planet, just north of Arabia. The dark area to the right of Arabia, called Syrtis Major Planum, is a low-relief volcanic shield of probable basaltic composition. The bright area to the right of Syrtis Major is Isidis Planitia, an ancient impact basin. Bright white areas to the south, including the Hellas impact basin at lower right, are covered by carbon dioxide frost.

Keywords for this photo:

ASTRONOMY - HELLAS - IMPACT CRATER - MARS - PLANET - SYRTIS MAJOR - VIKING - VIKING 1 -