Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Martian Cratered Highlands

This THEMIS nighttime temperature image shows the ancient, heavily cratered surface of the highlands between Isidis and Elysium Planitia. The image is entered near 9 deg N, 109 deg E, and covers an area approximately 32 km wide by 120 km long. The bright ‘splashes’ extending outward from the three large craters are the remnants of the rocky material thrown out when the impact occurred. The nighttime temperature differences are due primarily to differences in the abundance of rocky materials that retain their heat at night and stay relatively warm. Fine grained dust and sand cools off more rapidly at night. The circular rims of the craters in this region are warm at night, showing that rocks are still present on the steep walls inside the craters. The ‘splosh’ ejecta patterns are also warmer than their surroundings, and are covered by material that was blasted out when the craters formed. The temperatures in this scene vary from approximately -105 deg C (darkest) to -75 deg C (warmest). This image was acquired using the THEMIS infrared Band 9 centered at 12.6 µm. North is toward the left in this image.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University