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APOD
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.
Swiss Cheese-Like Landscape on Mars
Explanation: Why do parts of the south pole of Mars look like swiss cheese ? This little-understood landscape features flat-topped mesas nearly 4 meters high and circular indentations over 100 meters across. Since this swiss-cheese topography is unique to the polar cap covering southern Mars , exogeologists speculate that mesa composition might be high in frozen carbon dioxide ( dry ice ). Additionally, dry ice might have had a role in this strange landscape 's creation. In the above picture , the Martian surface is illuminated by sunlight from the upper right. The above picture was taken in August 1999 by the robot Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently orbiting Mars .
| Date | March 27, 2001 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: Malin Space Science Systems , MGS , JPL , NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |