Mars moon Phobos: Up close

I thought some of you Astro-geeks (I'm including myself here) might
find this Beautiful Image of PHOBOS interesting





11 November 2004
This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA�s Mars Express spacecraft, is one of the highest-resolution pictures so far of the Martian moon Phobos.

The image shows the Mars-facing side of the moon, taken from a distance of less than 200 kilometres with a resolution of about seven metres per pixel during orbit 756, on 22 August 2004.

This colour image was calculated from the three colour channels and the nadir channel on the HRSC. Due to geometric reasons the scale bar is only valid for the centre of the image.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)




Here also is a link to the Hires Version:
Phobos Hi_Resolution


How about some theories on the striated patterns?
Is this Layering? Or is it the result of shockwaves, due to multiple impacts?

Wow, thanks! Thats the best picture I've seen of Phobos!
Are there more??



(hmmm, I could swear I can see a face in one of those craters. )

I posted a link to some photos of Phobos in August.
The photos are in B/W but still intriguing.
This little rock still fascinates me, and it does look like rock layers.
Thanx for the link.

There is a collage that contains several images here:

Phobos, Mutiple orbits

There might be more, if you search around the site.

Incredible picture of Phobos!

I've sent a copy of the picture to a geologist friend to ask his opinion on the striations. Don't know if he'll have a clue, but it's worth a shot.

B.


Thanks Z - I knew you'd have an idea what was up.

[edit on 11/19/04 by Bleys]

OK I cant be 100% on this without talking to the processors but these images it says are composites of multple, prolly 1000's of sterio images. A sterio image is like those little viewer thing you had when you were a kid that had the pictures on the plastic wheel. The camera is composed of two cameras with some spacing between them that take pictures simulataneously of the same spot. When you composite the two pictures you get a faux 3-D picture. I would say the striations are the edges of the picture tracts and relicts of the composition of multiple images. Its a polygon effect like your favorite videogame. To render a 3-D object into a 2-D photo there is distortion, thus the reason the scale only applies in the center. You fit polygons to create the image. Hope this helps.

Zsandman,

I Understand, and I have seen the artifacting to which you are referring.
BUT, this would mean that the striations would differ, from one picture to another, I think?
So what we need to do is analyze photos taken at different times, and angles.
Then see what the relationship is to other static objects on the surface, such as
craters, hills etc...

I wonder how many Phobos photos exist?


Bleys,

It's always good to have a geologist friend...Frankly...THEY ROCK...
Can't wait to hear what your friend says..

[edit on 19-11-2004 by spacedoubt]

this pic is not a mosaic of pictures, it is one picture, with incredible detail.

We need more pictures of this moon, because I would bet that Nasa will go there eventually, because its close to Mars but is more like our own moon, except of course it only has 1/1000 the gravity of earth while the our larger moon is 1/6. On our moon you cant walk, you need to hope or skip, on this moon you would nearly float.

Better learn more about is now, because in 200 years it will smash in Mars, just like all of mars' many moons, then mars will only have one remaining moon Deimos.