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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.

The Grand Canyon of Mars

Explanation: The Mariner Valley, also known as the Valles Marineris canyon system, appears in this mosaic of images from NASA's Viking spacecraft as a huge gouge across the red planet. This “Grand Canyon” of Mars is about 2500 miles long and up to 4 miles deep. By comparison, the Earth's Grand Canyon is less than 500 miles long and 1 mile deep.

For more information about Mars see Calvin J. Hamilton's Mars Page. The exploration of Mars is chronicled by the Center For Mars Exploration. The exploration of Mars is chronicled by the Center For Mars Exploration.

Date July 20, 1995
Credit NASA,Viking Project,USGS
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.