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Scenes from the Mars, Red Planet
The best Earth-based view of Mars ever  Frosty white water ice clouds and swirling orange dust storms above a vivid rusty landscape reveal Mars as a dynamic planet in this sharpest view ever obtained by an Earth-based telescope. The Earth-orbiting Hubble telescope snapped this picture on June 26, when Mars was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth -- its closest approach to our planet since 1988. Hubble can see details as small as 10 miles (16 km) across. Especially striking is the large amount of seasonal dust storm activity seen in this image. One large storm system is churning high above the northern polar cap [top of image], and a smaller dust storm cloud can be seen nearby. Another large duststorm is spilling out of the giant Hellas impact basin in the Southern Hemisphere [lower right]. Hubble's Sharpest View of Mars: ACS Image  This view of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys provides the sharpest view of the red planet attainable by the Earth-oribiting observatory. The picture was taken August 24, when Mars was approximately 34.7 million miles from Earth.<BR><BR>The central linear feature running from left to right is Valles Marineris, a 2,480-mile (4,000-km) system of canyons. Sunlight illuminates one wall of the canyon, creating a striking white linear feature. To the bottom left lies Solis Lacus (Lake of the Sun) At far left is the great Tharsis plateau. A chain of three dormant volcanoes can barely be seen along the left limb. Mars  This sharp, natural-color view of Mars reveals several prominent Martian features, including the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons; a system of canyons called Valles Marineris; an immense dark marking called Solis Lacus; and the southern polar ice cap.
A 'Pot of Gold' Rich with Nuggets  This close-up image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit highlights the nodular nuggets that cover the rock dubbed "Pot of Gold." These nuggets appear to stand on the end of stalk-like features. The surface of the rock is dotted with fine-scale pits. Data from the rover's scientific instruments have shown that Pot of Gold contains the mineral hematite, which can be formed with or without water.<BR><BR>Scientists are planning further observations of this rock, which they hope will yield more insight into the hematite's origins as well as how the enigmatic nuggets formed.<BR><BR>This image was taken by Spirit's microscopic imager on sol 162 (June 17, 2004). The observed area is 3 centimeters by 3 centimeters (1.2 inches by 1.2 inches) 'Diamond Jenness': Before the Grind  This microscopic imager mosaic of the rock called "Diamond Jenness" was snapped on sol 177 before NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity ground into the surface with its rock abrasion tool, or "Rat."<br><br>Opportunity has bored nearly a dozen holes into the inner walls of "Endurance Crater." On sols 177 and 178 (July 23 and July 24, 2004), the rover worked double-duty on Diamond Jenness. Surface debris and the bumpy shape of the rock resulted in a shallow and irregular hole, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) deep. The final depth was not enough to remove all the bumps and leave a neat hole with a smooth floor. This extremely shallow depression was then examined by the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. On Sol 178, Opportunity's "robotic rodent" dined on Diamond Jenness once again, grinding almost an additional 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch). The rover then applied its Moessbauer spectrometer to the deepened hole. This double dose of Diamond Jenness enabled the science team to examine the rock at varying layers. Results from those grindings are currently being analyzed.<BR><BR>The image mosaic is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across. They of the Great Rocks  This approximate true color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows "Adirondack," the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and means "They of the great rocks."
Peering into the Core of a Globular Cluster  Astronomers have used NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to peer into the center of a dense swarm of stars called Omega Centauri. Located some 17, 000 light-years from Earth, Omega Centauri is a massive globular star cluster, containing several million stars swirling in locked orbits around a common center of gravity. The stars are packed so densely in the cluster's core that it is difficult for ground-based telescopes to make out individual stars. Hubble's high resolution is able to pick up where ground-based telescopes leave off, capturing distinct points of light from stars at the very center of the cluster. Viking 2 Image of Mars Utopian Plain  The boulder-strewn field of red rocks reaches to the horizon nearly two miles from Viking 2 on Mars' Utopian Plain. Scientists believe the colors of the Martian surface and sky in this photo represent their true colors. Fine particles of red dust have settled on spacecraft surfaces. The salmon color of the sky is caused by dust particles suspended in the atmosphere. Color calibration charts for the cameras are mounted at three locations on the spacecraft. Note the blue star field and red stripes of the flag. The circular structure at top is the high-gain antenna, pointed toward Earth. Viking 2 landed September 3,1976, some 4600 miles from its twin, Viking 1, which touched down on July 20. Earth Mars Comparison  This composite image of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets. The Earth image was acquired from the Galileo orbiter at about 6:10 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on Dec. 11, 1990, when the spacecraft was about 1.3 million miles from the planet during the first of two Earth flybys on its way to Jupiter. The Mars image was acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor in April of 1999.
New Real Estate on Mars  This image mosaic taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera shows a new slice of martian real estate southwest of the rover's landing site. The landscape shows little variation in local topography, though a narrow peak only seven to eight kilometers away is visible on the horizon. A circular depression, similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow, can be seen in the foreground. Opportunity's Empty Nest  This image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover's now-empty lander, the Challenger Memorial Station, at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The image was acquired on the 24th martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission at approximately 13:00 Local Solar Time. Hubble's Close Encounter with Mars  NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this close-up of the red planet Mars when it was just 55, 760, 220 km away. This color image was assembled from a series of exposures taken between 6:20 p.m. and 7:12 p.m. EDT Aug. 26 with Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The picture was taken just 11 hours before the planet made its closest approach to Earth in 60, 000 years. Many small, dark, circular impact craters can be seen, attesting to the Hubble telescope's ability to reveal fine detail on the planet's surface. One of the most striking is the 450-km diameter Huygens crater, seen near the center of the image.
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