Mars. Mosaic of images taken by the Viking I and II probes showing the globe of Mars. The image is centred on 90 degrees longitude and 0 degrees latit

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Mars. Mosaic of images taken by the Viking I and II probes showing the globe of Mars. The image is centred on 90 degrees longitude and 0 degrees latitude. The equatorial band and the southern hemisphere of the planet are marked by heavily cratered areas whereas the northern hemisphere is occupied by vast, sparsely cratered plains. The south polar cap (white bottom) is believed to consist mainly of frozen carbon dioxide; the north polar cap is formed by a mixture of carbon dioxide and water ice. The Tharsis region (upper centre left) hosts many volcanoes (round features), the largest of which being Olympus Mons (centre left) with a diameter of about 540km.

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Size: 4016px × 4921px
Photo credit: © US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, caps, cosmology, globe, mars, mosaic, planet, planetary, polar, science, view