Images from NASA
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
—or—
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
To cite the image(s) and caption information in a paper or report:
Malin, M. C., B. A. Cantor (2019), MRO MARCI Weather Report for the week of 26 August 2019 – 27 August 2019, Malin Space Science Systems Captioned Image Release, MSSS-593, http://www.msss.com/msss_images/2019/09/04/.
MRO MARCI WEATHER REPORT FOR THE WEEK OF
26 AUGUST 2019 – 27 AUGUST 2019
Captioned Image Release No. MSSS-593 — 4 September 2019
http://www.msss.com/msss_images/2019/09/04/
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems |
The MARCI acquires a global view of the red planet and its weather patterns every day. Please click and play the movie (.mp4 file) to see how the weather on Mars changed during this time.
Weather patterns were fairly typical last week for this time of Mars year. In the north, local-scale dust storms were spotted along seasonal north polar cap edge. Diffuse water-ice clouds associated with the aphelion cloud-belt continued to be more dominant over the mid-to-low latitudes each afternoon.Both the Curiosity Rover in Gale Crater and the InSight lander on Elysium Planitia had storm-free afternoon skies all week.
Mars is currently in conjunction, which means that the red planet is on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth. This makes it difficult to send and receive signals from Mars. Although MARCI data will still be taken during conjunction, it will not be transmitted back to Earth for several weeks. This is the last MARCI weather report until then, so stay tuned, and check back in late September for new reports.
This week’s MARCI “movie” can be downloaded HERE (2.5 MB .mp4 file).
This week’s MARCI “movie” can be downloaded HERE (2.5 MB .mov file).
Earlier Mars Weather Reports are available HERE.
About the Movie:
The movie (a .mp4 file that you can click and play, above) was generated from images obtained by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). During a nominal operational week, a total of about 273 MARCI images, taken in three of the camera’s seven color filter bands (420, 550, and 600 nanometer wavelengths), are map projected and mosaiced together to produce seven false-color daily global maps.
These maps are then projected onto a sphere with north at the top and east to the right and with the mid-afternoon vantage point of an observer in the orbital plane (the imaginary plane that the planet draws out as it circles the Sun). Black areas in the movie are the result of data drops or high angle roll maneuvers by the spacecraft that limit the camera’s view of the planet. Equally-spaced blurry areas that run from south-to-north (bottom-to-top) result from the high off-nadir viewing geometry, a product of the spacecraft’s low-orbit, 250 km x 316 km (155 miles x 196 miles).
The movie is rendered at a lower resolution than the intrinsic 1–2 km nadir resolution that the MARCI provides, so that it is practical to view and share via the Internet. The small white circles on these images of Mars indicate the locations of the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity (in Gale Crater) and the InSight lander (in Elysium Planitia).
Other locations on Mars referenced in the weather report can be found by referring to the map below. Note that the still image of Mars depicted at the top of this page is a single frame from the movie.
Reference Map — Martian Place Names Commonly Mentioned in Mars Weather Reports
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems |
The image(s) and caption are value-added products. MSSS personnel processed the images and wrote the caption information. While the image(s) are in the Public Domain, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS requests that you credit the source of the image(s). Re-use of the caption text without credit is plagiarism. Please give the proper credit for use of the image(s) and/or caption.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
—or—
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
To cite the image(s) and caption information in a paper or report:
Malin, M. C., B. A. Cantor (2019), MRO MARCI Weather Report for the week of 26 August 2019 – 27 August 2019, Malin Space Science Systems Captioned Image Release, MSSS-593, http://www.msss.com/msss_images/2019/09/04/.
Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) built and operates the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover Mast Camera (Mastcam) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Color Imager (MARCI) and Context Camera (CTX), and the Jupiter Orbiter (JUNO) camera (Junocam). MSSS also built and operated the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). In addition, MSSS built the Mars Odyssey (ODY) Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) Visible (VIS) camera subsystem, which shares optics with the thermal infrared instrument and is operated at Arizona State University (ASU). MSSS also built the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) for the Phoenix Mars Scout lander, the suite of high resolution cameras aboard the 2009 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REX) mission. MSSS is currently working on cameras for the Mars 2020 Rover mission.
