Astropedia
Lunar and Planetary Cartographic Catalog

Mars Viking Hemisphere Point Perspectives

Mosaic of the Cerberus and Schiaparelli hemispheres of Mars projected into point perspective.
Mosaic of the Cerberus and Schiaparelli hemispheres of Mars projected into point perspective.
Closeup mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars
Closeup mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars
Mosaic of the Syrtis Major and Valles Marineris hemispheres of Mars projected into point perspective.
Mosaic of the Syrtis Major and Valles Marineris hemispheres of Mars projected into point perspective.

Cerberus

Mosaic of the Cerberus hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. This mosaic is composed of 104 Viking Orbiter images acquired on February 11, 1980. At that time, it was early northern summer on Mars. The center of the image is at latitude 3 degrees, longitude 185 degrees.

A major geologic boundary extends across this mosaic, with the lower third of the image showing ancient cratered highlands; north of this boundary are the lowland northern plains. A series of poorly-indurated sedimentary deposits occur just north of the highland-lowland boundary; some workers believe that these are explosive volcanic deposits (ignimbrites) whereas others have postulated that they are paleo-polar deposits. Other prominent features in this image include the large dark area left of the image center (named Cerberus), and the Elysium volcanic region.

Thin white clouds are dispersed over the northern hemisphere, and the opaque cloud in the upper right overlies the Olympus Mons Aureole. The arcuate markings west of the Aureole are thought to be extended drift of windblown material.

Schiaparelli

Mosaic of the Schiaparelli hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The images were acquired in 1980 during early northern summer on Mars. The center of this image is near the impact crater Schiaparelli (latitude -3, longitude 343) The limits of this mosaic are approximately latitude -60 to 60 and longitude 260 to 30. The color variations have been enhanced by a factor of two, and the large-scale brightness normalized by large-scale filtering.

The large circular area is known as Arabia. The boundary between the ancient, heavily-cratered southern highlands and the younger northern plains occurs far to the north (latitude 40) on this side of the planet, just north of Arabia. The dark streaks with bright margins emanating from craters in the Oxia Palus region (to the left of Arabia) are caused by erosion an/ or deposition by the wind. The dark area on the far right, called Syrtis Major Planum, is a low-relief volcanic shield of probable basaltic composition. Bright white areas to the south, including the Hellas impact basin at lower, right are covered by carbon dioxide frost.

Syrtis Major

Mosaic of the Syrtis Major hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. This mosaic is composed of about 100 red and violet filter Viking Orbiter images, digitally mosaicked in an point perspective projection. The images were acquired in 1980 during early northern summer on Mars. The center of this image is near latitude 0 degrees, longitude 310 degrees, and the limits of this mosaic are approximately latitude -60 to 60 and longitude 260 to 350. The color variations have been enhanced by a factor of two, and the large-scale brightness normalized by large-scale filtering.

The large circular area located in the upper left area of the image is know as Arabia. The boundary between the ancient, heavily-cratered southern highlands and the younger northern plains occurs far to the north (latitude 40) on this side of the planet, just north of Arabia. The dark area to the right of Arabia, called Syrtis Major Planum, is a low-relief volcanic shield of probable basaltic composition. The bright area to the right of Syrtis Major is Isidis Planitia, an ancient impact basin. Bright white areas to the south, including the Hellas impact basin at lower right, are covered by carbon dioxide frost.

Valles Marineris

Mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars projected into point perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. The distance is 2500 kilometers from the surface of the planet, with the scale being .6km/pixel. The mosaic is composed of 102 Viking Orbiter images of Mars. The center of the scene (lat -8, long 78) shows the entire Valles Marineris canyon system, over 2000 kilometers long and up to 8 kilometers deep, extending form Noctis Labyrinthus, the arcuate system of graben to the west, to the chaotic terrain to the east. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain from north-central canyons and run north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers high, are visible to the west. South of Valles Marineris is very ancient terrain covered by many impact craters.