ESA's Mars Express captures images of Mars's Tharsis Volcanoes during its 25,000th orbit
Channel: AstroPhil
Date: 31/03/2024

This angled perspective presents a glimpse of Mars, captured to commemorate a significant milestone for ESA's Mars Express: its 25,000th orbit around the Red Planet.

Constructed from a digital terrain model and incorporating data from Mars Express's High Resolution Stereo Camera, this image exaggerates the vertical scale by roughly threefold, lending the impression that the volcanoes are three times taller than their actual height.

Three renowned Martian volcanoes, Arsia, Pavonis, and Ascraeus Mons, stretch across the sandy-hued horizon from left to right. Just peeking at the frame's summit is the towering bulk of Olympus Mons, Mars's largest volcano, while the intricate, fractured terrain of Noctis Labyrinthus, known as Mars's 'labyrinth of night,' unfolds in the foreground.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin