Mars South Pole

Mars South Pole
An unusual observation by Mars Express shows a sweeping view over the planet’s south polar ice cap and across its ancient, cratered highlands.

The image was taken by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 25 February. In this unusual observation, known as a ‘broom calibration’ image, Mars Express turned such that its camera panned over the surface far above the planet, close to its furthest point along its orbit, in this case at around 9900 km.

Towards the bottom of the image is the south polar ice cap, comprising frozen water and carbon dioxide ice. This feature changes in size and shape with the seasons; the main image presented here was captured during the south polar summer, but during winter the ice extends into the smooth regions that can be seen surrounding it.

The mid-section of the image corresponds to the planet’s ancient southern highlands – it is covered by a high density of impact craters of varying size and states of erosion, with many craters overlapping.

Source and further reading:
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mars_Express/Sweeping_over_the_south_pole_of_Mars

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