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
That would be CACC not CACA 🙂
Does any one know where we can view the “before (2010)” image? Could not find it anywhere.
“””””…..Walter Allensworth says:
February 5, 2014 at 1:45 pm
Amazing camera resolution. Thanks for posting……”””””
Well not really; 1920 x 1280 is the resolution of my computer screen, and it is barely 2.3 Mpx.
Any ordinary 65 inch (diag.) 4K TV set has 8.3 Mpx, and looks spectacular.
But my fall back entry level camera, has 24.3 Mpx, and I can blow its images up to way bigger than 65 inches diag. (for the full picture) and still get sharp images.
If I had some grant money, I would add a 36 Mpx camera body to my kit, for when I really want some big detailed pictures.
But the new crater pic is spectacular; just not “amazing camera resolution.
Tom Norkunas says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Our thicker atmosphere provides a greater level of protection, and 70% would land in water, making a splash instead of a crater.
———————————-
Landing in the ocean doesn’t make much difference.
Think of the 10 km asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. If it hit in the middle of the Pacific Ocean today, by the time it reached the bottom of the ocean (half a second after reaching the surface that is), there would still be 4 kms of asteroid sticking out above the previous surface of the ocean.
And then the lithosphere is more shallow in the deep ocean. The asteroid would punch right through into the mantle.
A bad day regardless of the ocean or not.
Last November…
Voice 1: So, did you hear about the Mars impact? Pretty big meteor, huh?
A Strangely Familiar Voice (slyly gleeful): Actually…. that is where all the missing heat ended up. Mm, hm. Over the years, it has just rolled around and rolled around the North Pole and…. THEN…… KER — POW!!!! a…. uh…… uh……. uuuuuuuh… oh, yeah! The very, very, powerful, galactic cosmic rays from a solar flare catalyzed a chain reaction and launched it into space and, well, there ya go. (Aside: Turn up the temperature in the pool, Ameeleeyo…… Alfredo?…… Effcambrio??…. JUST DO IT!)
Voice 1: Really, now. REALLY?? We’re saved!!
ASFV: (melodramatically) Aaaand, now……. that HUMAN CO2-CAUSED GLOBAL WARMING is just a rollin’ and a rollin’ around the North Pole… . (Aside: two beers and another plate of nachos, Crambio…) Getting bigger and bigger and BIGGER and….. it’s only a matter of time until it EXPLODES when a…… uh…….uh …… uuuuuh….. a BIG BUS runs into it and it will
warm
the
PLANET !!! (this planet!!!!!!!)
To MILLIONS of degrees.
I — AM — CEREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
V1: Cool!!!
ASFV: I’m going to sit on it until next summer… .
(HA, HA, HAAA! An-th-ony forced your hand, NOW how will you convince U.S. voters to vote for the Envirostalinist candidates in November, 2014??)
{Above text intercepted from a private phone conversation without a warrant. Cannot be used as evidence. Heh, heh, but it — can — still — be– used…. }
#(:))
******************************
CO2 UP. WARMING STOPPED.
………….#$#$#$#$#$# GAME OVER #$#$#$#$#$$#$#…….
And ya know something, folks? While my above post was obviously silly… . The thing is,
in scientific terms,
the theory of AGW is just as ridiculous. Their “hypothesis” of human CO2-caused global “climate change” is JUST AS BIZARRE, for it is COMPLETELY unsupported by evidence.
AGW is not even a plausible hypothesis. It is pure, unsupported, speculation.
That any “scientists” can stand up in public and support such utter trash is amazing. Assuming they are not as dumb as a hockey stick, they must be completely blinded by:
1. Pride — and or
2. Greed — and or
3. Psychosis.
Oh, sure, Climate Boys (and Girls) shout your slogans a little louder, that oughta convince people. LOL.
Sometimes, it’s good to get back to the basics! #(:))
journalist alerts the world “There is no upper limit to these events!! – the odds that sooner or later, the Earth shall be struck by a dinosaur”
Reblogged this on Public Secrets and commented:
A tracking, warning, and possible defense against asteroids slamming into the Earth would be a much better use for all those millions in research dollars, instead flushing it down a toilet to fight a problem that doesn’t exist — man-made global warming.
NASA is just too embarrassed to admit the crater was made by one of their own spacecraft, engineered by Climate Scientists. (It was suppose to be a soft landing, but they put the retro-rockets in upside down.) /SARC
The ejecta appears very bright. While the impact is close to the equator, there could be some permafrost below the surface. It would be interesting if there are any significant albedo changes in the next image of the site.
‘Tom Norkunas says:
February 5, 2014 at 2:44 pm
Our thicker atmosphere provides a greater level of protection, and 70% would land in water, making a splash instead of a crater.’
Maybe it’s part of nature’s way of mixing the oceans up in order to hide the “heat”.
The Russia had a large meteor explode over unpopulated forest and flattened huge expanses of trees sometime in the 20th century. This recent one exploded too without hitting the ground. I have seen this happen actually when I saw what looked like a big bomb burst high in our atmosphere, it did no harm I believe. I do think that our moon as taken a battering and at least this impact on Mars, had no oxygen to ignite it. Or it didn’t land in water or ice. As some believe life on this planet was brought from outer space before we had oxygen in the atmosphere.
Gosh we could be distance relations to some ET’s. LOL A Martian microbe that grew into Michael Mann, and yearns for more CO2.
@ur momisugly Caleb. LOL. (… or maybe they outsourced that project to North Korea…)
Seems the odds of an actual asteroid hit on earth are much higher than those of finding any significant anthropogenic global warming.(The actually measured kind)
But thats all right, we will huddle here at the bottom of this gravity well, waiting for that asteroid.
While hyperventilating over insignificant modulations of atmospheric Carbon dioxide concentrations.
Once again proving the search for off planet intelligence, is pointless unless we can local some earthbound intelligence to use as a standard.
bush bunny,
That meteorite hit Russia only a year ago. Could have happened anywhere…
Well, there go the insurance rates for future settlers on Mars.
dbstealey,
bush bunny is talking about Tunguska meteorite that landed(?) in Siberia early in 20th century. It was much bigger than the one that hit last year and it hit in completely unpopulated area. Good thing too, otherwise it would have killed a LOT of people.
Well. JPL, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory IS a department of the California Institute of Technology (CIT) and is NOT a department of NASA.
JPL CIT is a ‘Contractor’ to NASA! JPL CIT must bid and argue and debate its proposals as all independent researchers regardless of heredity to NASA on a proposal by proposal basis!
I am typing this, to YOU, to educate YOU, and nothing more.
Of course, I type in ASCII little endian: do YOU need big endian?
Remember, Mars has MORE CO2 in its atmosphere than earth. Although the Martian atmosphere is only 1/20th as dense, it is about 95% CO2, thus about 200 times more. Now, why is Mars not a blazing inferno? Could it be Boyle’s Law PV=nRT at play, where temperature is proportional to pressure? As for the meteorite, Mars’ atmosphere would ablate very little from the bolide and most of the full cosmic velocity would remain in tact – typically 17-70 km per second. E=1/2 mv squared. V being a fairly large number,THUD, POW, SPLAT. Batman would be proud.
It would be very interesting for the rover to get there and investigate the geology at the bottom of the fresh crater. Meteorite collectors on earth would just love to get their hands on some of the fragments.
Firing a high- power rifle onto a hard surface will often produce a similar- looking result.
Bill Illis,
“Landing in the ocean doesn’t make much difference. ”
For a very large asteroid such as the one accused of causing the extinction of the dinosaurs that would be true.
For an object the size of what would have caused the pictured impact on Mars on the other hand it would make a huge difference.
Alan Robertson says:
February 5, 2014 at 9:10 pm
Firing a high- power rifle onto a hard surface will often produce a similar- looking result.
======================================================================
With nothing in the picture to indicate scale, a bullet hole was my first impression.
So that’s what a predominantly CO2 atmosphere near-earth planetary impact crater looks like! /sarc off
@ur momisugly Matt S. re: “…my first impression… .” Nice wit. lol
(even though it was just I, kinda nice to know SOMEONE read your post, huh?)