A reminder that the universe isn’t always friendly. A spectacular image of impact crater follows.
From NASA JPL today.
HD image here: 1920 x 1200
A dramatic, fresh impact crater dominates this image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 19, 2013. Researchers used HiRISE to examine this site because the orbiter’s Context Camera had revealed a change in appearance here between observations in July 2010 and May 2012, bracketing the formation of the crater between those observations.
The crater spans approximately 100 feet (30 meters) in diameter and is surrounded by a large, rayed blast zone. Because the terrain where the crater formed is dusty, the fresh crater appears blue in the enhanced color of the image, due to removal of the reddish dust in that area. Debris tossed outward during the formation of the crater is called ejecta. In examining ejecta’s distribution, scientists can learn more about the impact event. The explosion that excavated this crater threw ejecta as far as 9.3 miles (15 kilometers).
The crater is at 3.7 degrees north latitude, 53.4 degrees east longitude on Mars. Before-and-after imaging that brackets appearance dates of fresh craters on Mars has indicated that impacts producing craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter occur at a rate exceeding 200 per year globally. Few of the scars are as dramatic in appearance as this one.
This image is one product from the HiRISE observation catalogued as ESP_034285_1835. Other products from the same observation are available at http://uahirise.org/ESP_034285_1835.
HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Science Laboratory projects for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
Source: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/spaceimages/details.php?id=PIA17932
h/t to SciGuy Eric Berger
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No terra forming there then!
Amazing camera resolution. Thanks for posting.
Excellent!
Not sure how we parlay this 5o the masses.
SASmiles,
Auto
Too right.
We ought to terraform the place just to save Mars from planetary acne outbreaks.
And it would be as cool this.
The meteor which exploded over Russia recently detonated with the same force as a half megaton atomic bomb. We are incredibly lucky the explosion occurred in a sparsely inhabited region, that there were no fatalities.
http://www.seti.org/seti-institute/news/nov-6-7-pm-meteor-exploded-over-russia-last-year-can-we-survive-bigger-impact
There is no upper limit to these events – the odds that sooner or later, the Earth shall be struck by a dinosaur killer or worse, resulting in an explosion of thousands or even 10s of thousands of megatons of explosive force.
And we’re frittering away our resources stressing about a half degree bump in global temperature? FFS, what will it take to wake us up, as a species? the loss of a few cities? Or are we simply too stupid to survive?
It probably has something to do with CO2. Extraplanetary events are getting more extreme.
Hold on to your hats!
This was surprising to me, a similar rate of impacts should be happening here.
Love it: Extraplanetary events are getting more extreme.
@ur momisugly Eric Worall “There is no upper limit to these events – the odds that sooner or later, the Earth shall be struck by a dinosaur killer or worse, ”
I can very confidently predict that the Earth will NOT be struck by another dinosaur killer.
Not unless we find some more dinosaurs somewhere. 🙂
Ow. That’s gonna leave a mark.
Great image, even if it is false color.
Our thicker atmosphere provides a greater level of protection, and 70% would land in water, making a splash instead of a crater.
Just as well it missed the orbiter and curiosity.
Keith Minto says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm
……impacts producing craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter occur at a rate exceeding 200 per year globally
This was surprising to me, a similar rate of impacts should be happening here.
+++++++
They never make it thru the thicker atmosphere (water vapor) intact ?
Just guessing.
No No… It was a giant jelly donut end-zone spiked in front of the orbiter camera by the highly advanced, yet still elusive, MARTIANS.
No bucks…. No Buck Rogers.
Ask anybody, especially Global Warming wiki editors. 99% agree, there is life on Mars.
Understanding latitude on Mars is easy, it’s based on the axis of rotation, just like on Earth. But what about longitude? What is Mars’ prime meridian? Based on the article, it must have one.
And it does…
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/msss/camera/images/01_31_01_releases/airy0/
Its a broad area of sand dunes. Prevailing easterly winds?? Note the N-S fracture on the left side (W side?) of photo. West side(?) looks down-dropped slighly.
Funny how it happened to hit at a perfect, 90 degree angle and failed to throw up significant debris.
Um, Eric,
Did some work for our planetarium on the Russian Asteroid. Chelyabinsk is a city of over one million people. More than 2.5 million square feet of glass was shattered by the explosion. About a thousand persons were injured by the glass. I read one report that said some 60 people “suffered burns” because of the explosion. Donno about that one, but Chelyabinsk is not an “uninhabited” area of Russia. A half million tons of TNT is a fearsome force to deal with.
Mike
Keith Minto says: February 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm
……impacts producing craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter occur at a rate exceeding 200 per year globally
This was surprising to me, a similar rate of impacts should be happening here.
—————————————————————–
There are a lot more asteroids crossing the orbit of Mars than cross the orbit of Terra.
Eric,
OOPS – misquote – sorry “sparsely inhabited region”
Apologies,
Mike
Keith Minto says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm
……impacts producing craters at least 12.8 feet (3.9 meters) in diameter occur at a rate exceeding 200 per year globally
This was surprising to me, a similar rate of impacts should be happening here.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Earth has a much thicker atmosphere. Most smaller meteors burn up completely and never hit the ground at all.
Also, the ones that do reach the ground will leave smaller craters than they would on mars due to the greater deceleration caused by the thicker atmosphere here.
Keith Minto says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:37 pm
—–
They may be. Asteroids that small are unlikely to make it through the atmosphere.
kingdube says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Love it: Extraplanetary events are getting more extreme.
—-l
So when will we see a paper linking CACA (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Change) to CEPE (Catastrophic Extra-Planetary Events)? I am sure there is a PhD in there somewhere 🙂
It seems the explosion on impact rather than the impact entry angle causes the crater shape. http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/shaping_the_planets/impact_cratering.shtml