Astronomy Picture of the Day - powered by LUNEXIT.IT

Today's APOD shows a persistent Frost Patch located on a Mound which is inside Louth Crater. The Frost Patch has remained largely stable at least since the Viking era (such as the late 1970s). The bright Frosty Region is bounded by a Dunefield on the North/East and the so-called "Size Classes" of several of the Features forming the Dunefield probably represent generations of Dunes that were created under a variety of Dominant Wind Conditions. The Frost is largely absent over the Dunes, but it is way more stable on the Ground that does not possess Dune-shaped Landforms. Louth Crater is located in the Martian Region of Vastitas Borealis and its peculiarity is that it could contain, according to several Studies (which we shall take into a duly consideration starting from tomorrow's APOD), could contain the remains of an ancient Martian Northern Lake which, however, seems to be slowly retreating.

Mars Local Time: 15:14 (Early Afternoon)
Coord. (centered): 70,377° North Lat. and 103,397° East Long.
Spacecraft altitude: 317,5 Km (such as about 198,4 miles)
Original image scale range: 63,5 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~ 1 mt and 95 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 50 cm/pixel
Map projection: POLAR STEREOGRAPHIC
Emission Angle: 9,3°
Phase Angle: 56,1°
Solar Incidence Angle: 64° (meaning that the Sun was about 26° above the Local Horizon at the time that the picture was taken)
Solar Longitude: 146,4° (Northern Summer/Southern Winter)
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

This frame has been colorized in Absolute Natural Colors by (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and then looked down, towards the Surface of Mars), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.