3 Sept 2003

Solar System - C. C. Lang

Check your knowledge--

Northerners have cold days in January because: (a) the earth is farthest from the Sun in January (b) the orbital velocity of Earth is greatest in Jan. (c) the Sun is lower in the sky in January (d) El Nino is always strongest in January
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ANSWER: (c)

Solar System - C. C. Lang

Physical Features of Mars

The Martian Surface as revealed by the Mariners, Vikings - craters - volcanoes - plains Evidence for Water on Mars - geological - chemical The Martian Atmosphere
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Fast Facts on Mars:

size = 5974 km/4200 miles ~53% Earths size mass = 6.5 x 1023 kg or 0.1 Earths mass density = 3900 kg/m3 (Earths density = 5510 kg/m3) gravity/physics will be different on Mars, i.e., mts., activity in planets core
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3 Sept 2003

Solar System - C. C. Lang Changes in surface coloring: thought once to be vegetation!!

Mariners 6 and 7

Fly by of Mars on 31 Jul 1969 - came within 2,130 miles of Mars - pictures of ~20% surface (missed important volcanic features) - sent back ~80 photos (Mar. 6) and ~120 photos (Mar. 7) Mariners 6 and 7 had scientfic instruments to study Martian atmosphere: - composition, pressure, density, and temperature - two cameras - infrared spectrometer 3 Sept 2003 - ultraviolet spectrometer Solar System - C. C. Lang 6

Martian surface covered with craters!

- surface isnt smooth (as historical observations thought)
- similar to Moon surface (being studied simultaneously) - must be old: peak in impacts ~3.8 billion years ago - difficult to see from Earth, but Mars thin atmosphere Solar System - C. water/ C. Lang life on Mars - many gave up hope for seeing

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Mariner 9 first ORBITER spacecraft!!

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Solar System - C. C. Lang

 Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet

- arrived at Mars 14 November 1971 - orbited Mars for more than a year

Major dust storm on Mars when Mariner 9 arrived!

-surface was not visible for an entire month -however, the cones of major volcanoes (new discovery) were visible

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Craters werent all that was found on Mars!!

Even though dust covered, there were several crater-like features visible rising above the dust...

Picture from Mariner 9 during the dust storm (ignore black dots)

Carl Sagan took a polaroid of the TV screen in the headquarters of Mariner 9 he rushed into a 3 Sept System - C. C. Lang group of 2003 scientists in the next roomSolar and they realized that these were volcanic calderas!!10

Mariner 9s Mars Milestones

349 days in orbit (circled Mars twice daily for a year)

Mariner 9 transmitted 7,329 images, covering over 80% of Mars' surface lowest altitude images distance of spacecraft ~900 miles above surface An infrared radiometer was included to detect volcanic activity Mars' tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, were also photographed.

Channels on the flanks of the volcano Hecates Tholus. Various radial channels have been interpreted as erosional ash channels, lava channels or channels eroded by fluvial processes. Mariner 9 narrow angle camera.

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The images revealed structures resembling river beds

Extinct volcanic activity!

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Olympus Mons 3x as high as volcanoes on Earth Solar System - C. C. Lang

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Valles Marineris picture from Mariner

Valles Marineris - system of canyons over 4,000 km (2,500 miles) 3 Sept 2003 Solar System - C. interest C. Lang 13 - revived peoples in possible water/life

Valles Marineris - Grand Canyon of Mars

- streches for at least 2500 miles (NYC LA) - rift valley region broken by crust motions earlier in Mars history

signs of river erosion in early history of

Mars (3-4 Billion yrs ago) like Grand Canyon

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Viking 1 and 2 Orbiter & Lander

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Viking Orbiter
This image is a mosaic of the Schiaparelli hemisphere of Mars. The center of this image is near the impact crater Schiaparelli, 450 kilometers (280 miles) across!.

Bright white areas to the south, including the Hellas impact basin at extreme lower right, are covered by carbon dioxide frost.

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Viking Orbiter
This image is a mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars. The center is the Valles Marineris system 3,000 km (1,860 miles) long and up to 8 km (5 miles) deep. Many huge ancient river channels begin from the chaotic terrain and north-central canyons and run north. Many of the channels flowed into a basin called Acidalia Planitia, which is the dark area in the extreme north. The three Tharsis volcanoes (dark red spots), each about 25 kilometers (16 miles) high, are visible to the west.
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Changes in color across Mars Surface

- first thought to be vegetation! - changes over seasons (growing seasons?)
now understood physically:
- changes in the surface features (i.e. plains, volcanoes, crater beds) - changes in the surface chemical composition (rock, soil types e.g., basalt) determined from spectroscopy (radar) of reflected light from the surface - albedo measure of the reflectivity of a planet
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Mars Global Surveyor

- NASA launched in December 1996 - 6 instruments including
MOC high resolution camera MOLA laser altimeter (first 3D look!) TES high-resolution temperature detector Magnetic field detector

How do we measure the height of features on Mars?

Laser Altimeter (MOLA)

bounce laser beams off surface time delay between signals gives height measure

plot of Mars height as a function of position on the planet North to South

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The Face on Mars (Viking Image from 1976)

Mars Global Surveyor (1998)

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Radar map of Martian surface MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) Color indicates elevation

Low area:
Former Ocean?

(Blue =low, red= high)

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Mars Topographic Map (MOLA radar 1998/99)

Low elevation Northern hemisphere

- Resurfaced by some process??

Volcanoes

Hellas impact basin (2000 km) Valles Marineris (2500km) High elevation southern hemisphere Many more craters! Older surface?
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Mars Crustal Dichotomy = noticeable differences between N and S hemispheres - Altitudes (N lowlands, S highlands) - Cratering (age of surfaces?) Various Explanations:
- large impact (asteroid) on Mars - plate tectonics (although Mars too small for hot core) - volcanic eruptions which smoothed parts of the planet
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Hellas Impact Basin

2000 km diameter, 9 km deep! Probably formed by asteroid impact Debris from collision would cover US with layer 3 km thick

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Olympus Mons largest volcano in S.S.

rises 15 miles above surrounding flat plains three times as tall as Mt. Everest hot spot volcanism like in Hawaiian Islands (magma lifts up underneath) caldera is ~70 km across
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Tharsis Rise cluster of large volcanoes

near Olympus Mons
blue/white clouds often seen over these volcanoes

these clouds result when: - warm air (water) rises - cools at the high altitude - freezes into cloud

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