Mars, or the Red Planet, is home to thousands of impact craters caused by asteroids and comets slamming into the planet’s surface. These craters range in size from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers in diameter.
Small impact craters usually have a simple bowl shape, but sometimes more complex shapes can form if the target is atypical. This image from NASA’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), a camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), shows a crater with a wide, flat bench or terrace between the outer rim and the inner portion, making it look like bull’s eye
According to the HiRISE team, this type of shape can form if the underground material changes from weak to strong. The terrace level indicates where this change occurs. In the region of this observation, there is evidence that the overlying material is mostly ice. Terraced craters like this one can tell us how thick the ice is, because the formation of the terraces shows where the ice meets the underlying rock.
HiPOD: Craters in an ice surface. Small impact craters usually have a simple bowl shape, but sometimes more complex shapes can occur if the target is unusual. #science #NASA pic.twitter.com/PdMTQNe9ot
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) January 8, 2023
Craters on the Martian surface are important to scientists because they provide clues about the history and evolution of the planet. By studying the craters, they can not only learn about the frequency and size of impacts that have occurred on Mars over time, but also about the composition of the objects that have impacted the planet. In addition, craters can provide insight into the geological processes that shaped the planet’s surface.
NASA’s HiRISE is an invaluable tool for the scientific community studying Mars, and its images have been used in countless scientific papers and publications.
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