Map of Mars in Russian. Observations of the red planet

Ancient river bed

Before considering in detail such applications as a 3D map of Mars or a 3D map of Mars, let's learn a little about the planet itself.

This will be especially useful when we touch upon such sections as the geological map of Mars (geological-morphological map of Mars) or the geographic map of Mars.

Mars is one of the four terrestrial planets, as are Mercury, Venus, and Earth. All terrestrial planets are rocky and made of metal. The rest are classified as outer gas giants.

Structure

It, like others in this group, has the same structure: core, mantle and crust, although each layer differs in thickness, depending on the planet. Mercury has an average density of 5.43 g/cm3. Earth is the only planet denser than Mercury. Mercury most likely has a liquid core composed primarily of an iron-nickel alloy. Venus has a crust that extends 10-30 km below the surface. After this, the mantle reaches a depth of about 3000 km. The planetary core is liquid and consists of an iron-nickel alloy. Average density 5.240 g/cm3.

The earth's crust is on average 30 km thick on land and 5 km on the seabed. The mantle extends to a depth of 2900 km.

The core begins at a depth of about 5,100 km and consists of two separate parts: the outer core is a liquid iron-nickel alloy, and the inner core is a solid iron-nickel alloy. The average density of the planet is 5.520 g/cm3. Mars is about half the diameter of Earth. The depth of the crust and mantle is not known for certain; the average density is 3.930 g/cm3.

Size

Firstly, even the online satellite map of Mars does not show how small the radius of the red planet is, which is 3.389 km. Its circumference is 21,344 km. Further, its volume is 1.63 × 10 * 11 km3. And the mass, which is equal to 6.4169 × 10 * 23 kg.

By comparison, it has only 53% of the diameter and about 38% of the surface area of ​​the Earth. This is approximately equal to the area of ​​all the continents of the Earth, and a 3D satellite map of Mars clearly confirms this. Its volume is equal to 15% of the volume of the Earth, and its mass is 11% of the mass of the Earth. As you can see, Mars is a small world, only smaller than Mercury, but despite this, a zoomed-in map of Mars allows you to see its surface in detail.

Surface Features

Despite its small size, it has many interesting features. The 3D satellite map of Mars allows you to enjoy the majestic spectacle of Mount Olympus, which is the highest mountain in the solar system with a height of 21.2 km from the base.

Before us is a map of Mars, Valles Marineris is the deepest valley. Mars is home to hundreds of thousands of craters that are clearly visible on the surface and a large relief map of Mars confirms this. The 3D map of Mars allows you to view in detail the North Polar Basin and the Hellas Basin - the largest in the Solar System.

Region Cydonia

There are hundreds of volcanoes on the surface of Mars. NASA's map of Mars allows some of them, considered the highest mountains in the solar system, to be seen in great detail.

The interactive map of Mars can tell you a lot of interesting things. Cydonia is perhaps the most “popular” region of the planet. The most mysterious surface formations, such as the pyramids, the “face on Mars” and the sphinx, are concentrated in this place. The map of Mars shows the pyramids in detail, and you can see them in detail thanks to numerous photographs of orbital scouts. The map of Mars contains many interesting features of the surface; the sphinx is one of the symbols of the “aliens” or race that existed many years ago on the planet. But the study of the application map of Mars from a satellite, the pyramids, like other mysteries, appear to us as just unusual features of the red planet’s topography, but not as evidence of disappeared races.

Pyramids, Sphinxes and Face

The pyramids on Mars, or the mountains on the surface, in low resolution, have almost perfect symmetry, reminiscent of the Egyptian pyramids.

Some of the images of the surface of Mars taken in the 70s by the Viking orbiter showed that these formations resemble a face. Fans of extraterrestrial life immediately saw this as a structure built by thinking life forms, but it was all due to the inaccurate map of Mars; Viking made it in very low quality.

In one of the photographs, the pyramid had almost perfect symmetry. Since the pyramids were located next to the “Face on Mars,” they gave rise to a huge amount of speculation about their origin. These fascinating theories were dispelled much later when higher resolution photographs were obtained.

The famous "Face on Mars" in high quality

A detailed map of Mars, satellite photos and other studies have shown that the “Face on Mars” is a hill with a distinctive shape. Similar geological formations can be found on Earth. They are usually formed by ice or weathering. There are good examples of such formations on Earth, for example: the Matterhorn in Switzerland, Mount Thielsen in the USA, and the Canadian Mount Assiniboine.

The planet's past

Mars is currently dry and cold, but it has been determined that it was once a wet and warm world. Some instruments on the Mars Express probe have returned data that suggests ancient Mars was warm enough to support liquid water on the surface. The probe's instruments detected chemicals that only form in the presence of liquid water. In addition, there are features on the surface that scientists believe were formed as a result of water erosion.

A map of Mars in the past clearly shows what the planet might have looked like billions of years ago. An animation by amateur astronomer Kevin Gill showing us a virtually living Mars that could have existed in its heyday. This complete map of Mars was created using data from a laser rangefinder installed on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and satellite images from NASA's Blue Marble Next Generation project.

This map of Mars with its oceans is not entirely accurate, the sea levels were not set scientifically, but with the expectation that the liquid would flood most of the Valles Marineris, and also form a coastline in the northern part of the planet, on the approaches to Mount Olympus.

The clouds are taken directly from the same NASA Blue Marble project and are rendered rather arbitrarily, but still look good. This map of Mars with water deserves another name, such as a map of Mars after colonization or a map of Mars after terraforming, but not a fictional depiction of the planet's distant past.

One day from the past life of the planet

Methane in the atmosphere

Many people think that Mars is a dead world covered with a thin layer of iron oxide. People who thought it was a dead world were shocked when researchers found evidence of methane in the Martian atmosphere.

There are two reasons for the presence of methane in the planet's atmosphere: biological or geological. The possibility of life on the planet, an intriguing but almost impossible reason. What remains is the geological process, i.e. volcanism. A satellite map of Mars indicates that there are not many volcanic regions, the largest being the Tharsis Plateau, on which the four largest volcanoes are located, including Olympus mons.

Tharsis region, computer model. On the right you can see the Labyrinth of the Night, three volcanoes in the center - Mount Askrian, Mount Pavlina and Mount Arsia

By the way, a map of Mars from a satellite in real time allows you to make a virtual trip to this mountain in one click.

Methane is rapidly destroyed in the atmosphere by radiation from the Sun and solar wind, so the source that provides the methane must be constantly active. Methane is the main component of natural gas on Earth. With very low accuracy, the map of Mars allows you to see the content of methane in the atmosphere and its presence, therefore, for a more complete study of this gas, the Indian probe “Mangalyaan” is rushing to the planet.

Methane is of interest to astrobiologists because organisms produce most of Earth's methane when they digest nutrients. If microscopic organisms exist, then they must be deep under the planet's crust. Purely geological processes such as iron oxidation (remember, the planet is covered in iron oxide) also release methane.

Geology

Without plate tectonics, the planet's volcanoes would erupt over millions of years. A detailed map of Mars reveals these massive eruptions, which explain why the entire surface is covered in iron-rich basalt. The iron in the basalt rocks interacted with the Martian atmosphere and oxidized. Iron oxide explains why the entire surface of Mars is covered in reddish dust.

Past disasters

Scientists believe it was a much larger planet early in the solar system's history. The impact that created the North Polar Basin was powerful enough to knock part of the planet into space, so the planet may have lost some mass as a result of the impact. A high-resolution map of Mars will help you see the consequences of this cataclysm.

Even the Hubble Space Telescope cannot show us all the details of the mysterious world of the red planet. However, a 3D map of Mars from Google will help you explore the planet in detail. This interactive map of Mars in Russian was created from more than several thousand images taken by artificial probes. Based on data received from the Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express of the European Space Agency, a satellite map of Mars was compiled, from the Mars Odyssey satellite, the information received was the most current.

These spacecraft show us new details of the surface and its structure. A convenient map of Mars with names will help you unravel the secrets of the red planet without leaving your home. The controls are intuitive. By zooming in, you can view the surface in more detail. This detailed map of Mars online is one of the most interactive tools that helps not only amateurs, but also educational organizations to more clearly tell about the red planet.

This detailed hypsometric map of Mars is based on data and measurements from a laser altimeter mounted on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. On it, heights (up to 10 km) were marked in red, and maximum heights (more than 10 km) were colored pink and white-pink. For negative heights, green and blue colors were used. This photo relief map of Mars clearly shows the phenomenon of dichotomy in the structure of the planet’s surface, which consists in the fact that its northern part, on average, is slightly lower in height than the southern part. Scientists believe that many billions of years ago the northern part of the planet, namely its lowlands, was filled with liquid and a detailed gravitational map of Mars confirms this.

Also transmitted data from Mars Global Surveyor showed in detail the shape of the coastline. The most complete map of Mars clearly shows us the Hellas basin, as well as the Tharsis plateau with four giant extinct volcanoes. This map of Mars, Olympus shows near the edge of Tharsis, and the rest of the Askrian mountains are the top of the three, below are Pavolina and Arsia. The map of Mars shows the valleys well, but the best visible is the Valles Marineris - a tectonic fault with a length of about 5000 km. It should be noted that this large map of Mars was compiled by our compatriots based on data from American interplanetary probes. Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, State Astronomical Institute named after P.K. Sternberg, J.F. Rodionova, the map of Mars is her direct brainchild.

Topographic map of Mars

Topographical designations

A high-quality, modern map of Mars, along with new names that were assigned to relief forms, according to space images, also uses old mythological and geographical names that were proposed by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. NASA's accurate map of Mars shows that the largest elevation on the planet is called Tharsis, and a large ring depression, a depression in the south, with a diameter of more than 2000 km is called Hellas (as Greece was called in ancient times). A modern map of Mars, a photo of the surface shows it to be heavily cratered, and various areas of the surface are referred to as: Noah's Land, Prometheus' Land, etc. The valleys are given the names of the planet in various languages ​​of the peoples of the Earth. If we take the Valley of Hrath, it means “Mars” in Armenian, and the Valley of Maadim means “Mars” in Hebrew. There is also a detailed map of Mars, the labyrinth of the night in which is presented with the most recent detailed images.

But as with all rules, there are exceptions: the large Valles Marineris, which was named after the successful photographing of the entire surface by the Mariner 9 spacecraft. Smaller valleys, according to their length, are called after the rivers of our planet. For example, Arsia is the name of a classical albedo formation. Aeria – “a distant country beyond the fogs” translated from Greek. Pearl Bay is named after the Hindustan Peninsula, where pearls were mined in ancient times.

Globe map of Mars

Craters

By the way, any fairly clear high-resolution map of Mars shows us that Martian craters are different from the same craters on the Moon or Mercury. The most accurate map of Mars tells us that these craters are shallower and have traces of water and wind erosion.

Unlike the Moon and Mercury, where there is neither liquid (liquid was present on the red planet millions of years ago) nor an atmosphere. The largest of the craters are Huygens (its size is about 470 km, and its depth is about 4 km), Schiaparelli (size 465 km, depth 2 km) and Cassini (size 411 km.) A 2014 satellite map of Mars indicates that some are very young Martian craters have radial ejections of soil in places where subsurface ice has broken out. It is worth noting that such splashes of soil are often found near craters that are located in the northern regions of the planet.

Selection of cards

Finally, we present to your attention a small selection. The large map of Mars certainly deserves the main attention, as the physical map of Mars is undoubtedly good. This high-resolution map of Mars from National Geographic is compiled by a reputable science magazine that is popular in many countries around the world, making the National Geographic Mars map a great find for anyone interested in astronomy.

And don’t forget, in order for the National Geographic creation, the map of Mars, to appear in front of you in its maximum size, you need to save it to your computer. This is quite easy to do - left-click on the image, and when it opens in full screen mode, right-click on the image and select the “save as” menu item and save it to a convenient location for viewing.

Amateur astronomers in action

This panoramic map of Mars was compiled by Czech enthusiast Daniel Machacek. He posted this wonderful result of his work on his blog. The map of Mars shows all current objects (as of 2013), and also shows the topography of heights. This map of Mars is quite rich in symbols - Daniel spent quite a lot of time on a detailed compilation that does not contradict such a “monster” as the NASA map of Mars.

Mars rover Curiosity

Topography of Gale Crater - landing site of the Curiosity rover, according to the Mars Express satellite

For a year now, an entire robotic complex called Curiosity (translated as “Curiosity”) has been operating on the surface of the red planet. In addition to a variety of geological, geochemical and other information, this rover, equipped with a nuclear radioisotope thermal generator, transmits many photographs of the surface, which scientists and amateur astronomers stitch together into detailed images of the surface. The map of Mars, Hale Crater, shows how a very ordinary area of ​​the planet, but directly from the crater itself, thanks to the images of the Mars Rover, we can examine in detail the surface of this truly amazing planet without leaving their home.

Spacecraft operating in planetary orbit

Even the newest map of Mars, based on images from the MRO probe - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA's multifunctional automatic interplanetary station, is not able to convey all the nuances of the surface with such detail. A complete study of Mars, a map of Mars and its detailed characteristics are being refined all the time, and with the introduction of new spacecraft into the orbit of the planet, the data is becoming more and more detailed. For comparison, the main camera (HiRISE) of the MRO probe is a 30-cm telescope that provides image resolution of about 30 centimeters per pixel, from an altitude of 250 km above the surface.

A satellite map of Mars, accurate and detailed thanks to many years of work not only by probes such as MRO and Mars Odyssey, but also by the European Space Agency's Mars Express probe.

A map of Mars from space is actually a stitching together of data from all spacecraft, which makes it possible for even a large wall map of Mars to look very detailed and accurate. And using modern technologies, a map of Mars is available even from home; you can view the entire surface of the planet online without much effort.

The openness of the data allowed Google to compile a wealth of data into a modern map of Mars, in which the MRO satellite played a key role. This joint program between Google and NASA, the map of Mars, can be viewed using a regular browser, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. So today it is possible to view a map of Mars for free without making any special search efforts.

Mars Global Surveyor

The surface temperature of the planet ranges from -65 to -120 degrees Celsius. The Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft captured this detailed temperature map as it passed over the red planet's night side for 500 orbits.

This temperature map of Mars shows the following temperature scale - white is the warmest areas of the planet, and the colder areas are respectively colored red, yellow and green, and the coldest are blue. On this map, it is summer in the northern hemisphere, while in the southern hemisphere it is the cold Martian winter. Near the planet's equator, slight variations in nighttime temperatures are associated with features of the surface material. The cold blue regions of the planet are covered with fine dust particles, while the warm regions are covered with sand and rocks.

Google Maps is a leader among modern mapping services that provide satellite interactive maps online. At least a leader in the field of satellite imagery and in the number of various additional services and tools (Google Earth, Google Mars, various weather and transport services, one of the most powerful APIs).

In the field of schematic maps, at some point, this leadership “was lost” in favor of Open Street Maps - a unique mapping service in the spirit of Wikipedia, where every volunteer can contribute data to the site.

However, despite this, the popularity of Google Maps remains perhaps one of the highest of all other mapping services. Part of the reason is that Google Maps is where we can find the most detailed satellite photos for the largest regions of any country. Even in Russia such a large and successful company as Yandex cannot surpass the quality and coverage of satellite photographs, at least in its own country.

With Google Maps, anyone can view satellite photos of the Earth for free almost anywhere in the world.

Image quality

The highest resolution images are usually available for the largest cities in the world in America, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Asia, Oceania. Currently, high-quality images are available for cities with a population of more than 1 million inhabitants. For smaller cities and other populated areas, satellite imagery is only available in limited resolution.

Possibilities

Google Maps or “Google Maps” was a real discovery for Internet users and indeed all PC users, giving an unheard of and previously unseen opportunity to look at their home, their village, cottage, lake or river where they vacationed in the summer - from a satellite. To see it from above, from a perspective from which it would be impossible to see it under any other circumstances. The discovery, the very idea of ​​giving people easy access to satellite photos, fits harmoniously into Google's overall vision of “easily providing everyone with access to any information on the planet.”

Google Maps allows you to see from a satellite simultaneously those things and objects that cannot be observed at the same time when observed from the ground. Satellite maps differ from ordinary maps in that on simple maps the colors and natural forms of natural objects are distorted by editorial processing for further publication. However, satellite photographs preserve all the naturalness of nature and the objects being photographed, natural colors, shapes of lakes, rivers, fields and forests.

Looking at the map, one can only guess what is there: a forest, a field or a swamp, while on satellite photography it is immediately clear: objects, usually round or oval in shape, with a unique swamp color, are swamps. The light green spots or areas in the photograph are fields, and the dark green ones are forests. With enough experience in orientation in Google Maps, you can even distinguish whether it is a coniferous forest or a mixed forest: coniferous has a browner tint. Also on the map you can distinguish specific broken lines piercing the forests and fields of the vast Russian expanses - these are railways. Only by looking from a satellite can one understand that railways have a much greater influence on the natural landscape surrounding them than roads. Also in Google Maps, it is possible to overlay maps with the names of regions, roads, settlements on a national scale and the names of streets, house numbers, metro stations on a city scale on a satellite image of an area or city.

Map mode and satellite view mode

In addition to satellite images, it is possible to switch to the “map” mode, in which it is possible to view any territory on the surface of the Earth and study in detail the layout and location of houses of any more or less large city. In the "map" mode it is especially convenient to plan your movements around the city if you have already seen enough satellite views of your city.

The search function by house number will easily point you to the desired house, giving you the opportunity to “look around” the area around this house and how you can drive up/approach it. To search for the required object, just type in Russian in the search bar a query like: “City, street, house number” and the site will display to you the location of the object you are looking for using a special marker.

How to use Google Maps

To begin, open some place.

To move around the map, left-click on the map and drag it in any order. To return to the original position, press the centering button located between the four direction buttons.

To enlarge the map, click on the button "+" or roll the mouse roller when the cursor is over the map. You can also enlarge the map double click mouse in the location you are interested in.

To switch between satellite, mixed (hybrid) and map views, use the corresponding buttons in the upper right corner of the map: Map / Satellite / Hybrid.

The red planet Mars, next after Earth and fourth from the Sun, is perhaps the most mysterious of all the objects in the Solar System. It is easy to distinguish in the night sky by its characteristic reddish tint.

Mars makes one full revolution around the Sun approximately 687 days. And this is not surprising, because they are separated by 230 million kilometers! Days on Mars are only slightly different from those on Earth. There they are 24 hours 39 minutes 35 seconds.
A manned project on the red planet is still in the future, but already in our time, modern rovers have explored every centimeter of its surface, thanks to which there is already a map of Mars - Google Mars.

Another gadget that allows you to view the surface of the planet Mars in high resolution is presented in the window below. Unlike the version presented above, in this interactive window you can very well view the planet from all sides. The best browsers to use are Google Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Google Planet Mars (use your mouse to rotate and zoom in on the planet)

Google gives us the opportunity to see a 3D view of the surface of the red planet.

There is no reliable information about life on Mars yet, but there are some sensational facts. Mars has two "Moons" of its own. These are Phobos and Deimos. Our ancestors believed in the negativity that this planet carries, which is why they named it after the god of war, and its satellites - Fear and Terror. This is how the words Phobos and Deimos are translated. Both of these satellites have an irregular shape, which is an exception in the Solar System.

Have you ever asked yourself the question: " Why is Mars red?? ". This shade is given to it by iron oxide (i.e., ordinary “rust”) contained in the Martian soil. The highest mountain in the Solar System, Olympus Mons, is located on Mars. Its height is three times greater than Everest. But all these facts are overshadowed by one thing - there is water on Mars! True, it is there in the form of ice. Scientists have proven that it once flowed freely there in the form of rivers, etc.

The largest canyon in the Solar System is also located on Mars. This is the Valles Marineris. The most important reason for the lack of life on Mars is that it has no magnetic field, and therefore no protection from solar radiation and asteroids.

Two thirds of all attempts to explore Mars have failed. This is a big problem for scientists, because in order to send rovers and orbitals to the planet, huge amounts of money need to be spent. 1 kilogram of material launched there costs approximately 309 thousand dollars! This is a big problem that hinders the exploration of the red planet. Therefore, Mars still remains for us one of the most mysterious objects in the Solar System.

Google Virtual Map of Mars is an Internet application that is very similar to Google Earth, the map of Mars is also made on this engine. This color map of Mars is nothing more than a 3d topographic map of Mars. This gives us an idea of ​​the heights of the area. This Google map of Mars also lets you switch between visible and infrared views in real time. The switch buttons are in the upper right corner.

In Google Maps of Mars, you can move up, down, left, or right using the arrow buttons in the top left corner of the screen. To zoom in and out of the Google Mars map, simply move the tool's slider. It is also on the left side.
This map of Mars, based on images from the Mars Odyssey probe, is a mosaic of images obtained from orbit.
If you're wondering why Google Mars maps are clearer in infrared, it's because the planet's clouds and dust are transparent to infrared light.

Additional features

In the search bar, you can look for objects that interest you, for example Mount Olympus - Olympus mons and read its description and detailed photographs. To return to the map, press "Backspace". There is also a search for pre-selected groups: spacecraft, mountains, volcanoes, craters, canyons, etc. To do this, click on the corresponding link to the right of the Google icon.

Pyramids and Face on Mars

Computer animation of Faces on Mars
If you don't know how to Google Mars pyramids, it's pretty easy. The Google Mars program allows you to quickly search. You can view the coordinates on Google Mars, but searching for them does not work.

Cydonia, some translate as Cydonia, is a plateau located in the northern hemisphere of the planet and famous for the fact that the numerous hills of this region, according to the first images of the Viking 1 orbiter, resembled a Face (by the way, Google Mars, the face on Mars allows you to see in one click) , Sphinx and pyramid.

Subsequently, more detailed images of the Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft (the Google Mars service also uses their images) showed that these hills have nothing to do with the activities of supposedly intelligent representatives of the planet, and what previously seemed quite meaningful figures appeared in the form normal Martian landscape. However, interest in these formations does not fade and therefore pyramids on Mars are quite easy to find on Google Mars. Just type Cydonia in the search bar and switch to infrared mode. The Google satellite map of Mars shows the Face and just below the pyramid. We hope that with Google Mars you will constantly discover new finds for yourself.

The Google coordinates of the Mars pyramid are as follows - 40.75N, 9.46W. By the way, the Google planet Mars pyramid coordinates allow you to calculate the coordinates quite easily, just select the object you are interested in and the necessary information of interest will appear in the drop-down menu.

Valles Marineris is the longest and deepest canyon in the solar system. It is a companion to the tallest mountain in the solar system, Mount Olympus, which is also located on the red planet. This couple demonstrates what extremes can be found using Google Mars online. To search for a valley, just type “Valles Marineris” in the map command line.

Valley dimensions

A planet during a dust storm, image from the Hubble Space Telescope

The Valles Marineris is about 4,000 km long and 200 km wide, in some places the depth reaches 7 km. It runs along the equator and covers almost a quarter of the planet's circumference, or 59% of its diameter. The Google map of Mars shows that the Valles Marineris system is a network of interconnected depressions that begin in the west and the Google map of Mars shows this well. Noctis Labyrinthus or “Labyrinth of Night” is considered the beginning of the Valles Marineris. The canyon passes through various areas of chaotic terrain (ridges, crevasses, and plains mixed together) before ending at the Chryse Planitia basin.

The most common theory for the formation of such a huge canyon is that it was formed by stretching of the surface layer. The theory is confirmed by erosion and destruction of the rift wall. Rift valleys usually form between and during the formation of two mountain ranges.

History of discovery

The mighty canyon is named after NASA's Mariner 9 spacecraft, which first photographed it at close range in 1971-1972.
Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, ahead of the Mars 2 and Mars 3 missions.
Valles Marineris on Mars has been the focus of many scientists' attention due to its geological past. It indicates that Mars used to be much wetter and warmer. If you are looking for interesting places on Google Mars, then this valley is rightfully in the TOP5.

Valles Marineris
Region Cydonia

Much of Google Mars' content is now captured by the Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Google map of Mars has a pretty good resolution - 6 meters per pixel - this is significantly better than most of the images of our Earth in Google Maps (about 15 meters per pixel) and significantly exceeds previous photographs of the planet.

Telescope in orbit

HiRISE camera

The latest Google Mars map shows individual areas of the surface with a resolution of 25-30 cm per pixel! This is thanks to the HiRISE camera, which is installed on the MRO satellite. The HiRISE camera is actually a telescope with a main mirror diameter of 30 cm! Despite the monstrous detail, it will take many years to completely map the planet with such resolution, so scientists are interested in the most relevant regions of the planet and the work sites of the Mars rovers, of which there are now two (Curiosity and Opportunity).

A little about the planet itself

After Earth, Mars is practically the only place in the solar system that could shelter people. But there are many things we must overcome on the red planet.

The orbit of the planet of the “god of war” ranks second in eccentricity in the solar system. Only Mercury's orbit has a greater eccentricity. At perihelion it is located at a distance of 206.6 million km from the Sun, and at aphelion 249.2 million km. The average distance from it to the Sun (the so-called semi-major axis) is 228 million km. One revolution of Mars takes 687 Earth days. The distance to the Sun changes depending on the gravitational influence of other planets, and the eccentricity can change over time. As recently as about 1,350 million years ago, it had a nearly circular orbit.

At its closest point, it is located approximately 55.7 million km from Earth. The planets come closest to each other every 26 months. Due to the vast distance, a trip to Mars will take 10 months to a year, depending on how much fuel we use.

Size

Comparative size of planets

Mars is very small and the global topographic map of Mars shows that its surface area is very small. Mars is only 6,792 km across, about half the diameter, and only 10% of the mass of Earth. Google's satellite map of Mars allows you to view the planet as if you could stand on its surface. Mars, but unfortunately does not convey to us that we would experience only 30% of the gravity on the surface of the Earth.

Mars, like all the planets in the solar system, has an axial tilt of about 25.19 degrees. This tilt is similar to Earth's, so it has seasons. Martian seasons are longer than Earth's because the year on Mars is almost twice as long as the Earth's year. The dramatically varying distance between Mars at aphelion and perihelion means its seasons are out of balance.
Day

One day on Mars is only a few minutes longer than on Earth. You can adapt quickly. Another advantage is that the tilt of the Martian axis is very similar to the Earth's; it is a pity that the online map of Mars from the satellite does not show this.

Conditions

This is what the planet might have looked like billions of years ago

Mars was once warm and wet, but is now a dry and cold planet. NASA rovers report data that the climate on the ancient planet was quite warm, and the surface retained water. This conclusion is confirmed by the chemicals detected by the probe. substances that can only be created in the presence of moisture. Scientists also suggest that some reliefs could not have been created without the participation of the abyss of water.

It is interesting to look at the supposed map of Mars in the past, to look back several billion years. Kevin Gill, an astronomer who created visualizations of the real Mars in the past, used a laser rangefinder located on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft.

The oceans and seas recreated on Mars were created taking into account the flooding of deep valleys, so they only “predict” the water structure of the planet.

The displayed clouds are also free-form. The information for their “reconstruction” was taken from the NASA Blue Marble project. A more accurate name for this water card would be Mars after many years of asteroid formation and reception.

Researchers believe that Mars used to be much larger, but the powerful impact that left the North Polar Basin suggests that the planet lost some of its mass. Upon closer examination of the surface, this conclusion seems justified.

But Mars has a very inhospitable environment. Its incredibly thin atmosphere is only 1% of the thickness of Earth's atmosphere. It consists mainly of carbon dioxide. You won't be able to breathe in such an atmosphere. Temperatures at night can drop to -100°C, even in the height of summer at the equator. A high-resolution interactive map of Mars shows the huge polar ice caps at the planet's poles.

One of the most important problems is the planet’s lack of a magnetosphere. Here on Earth, radioactive particles from space are deflected away from the surface, but on Mars there is no protection.

The famous "Face on Mars"

Original image taken by Viking Orbiter in 1976
In June 1976, the Viking 1 spacecraft sent back a strange image from the surface of Mars. These images contained what is now known as the "Face on Mars." The photographs were taken from an area known as Cydonia Mensae.
The face is located among several craters in the area, approximately halfway between the Arandas crater and the Bamberg crater.

Pareidolia

This face is due to an optical illusion called pareidolia. Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon in which a blurry and random image is perceived as familiar.
Of course, UFO enthusiasts found evidence in these images that there was a civilization in the planet's past. Unfortunately, many years passed before technology appeared that could capture faces more clearly, by which time the myths about Mars had spread widely.
Face on Mars: photos and videos

The face is just a hill. Image from MRO's HiRISE camera
Later images from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and other spacecraft showed that there is a face on Mars and it is nothing more than a hill. Shadows that appeared to be facial features almost disappeared in high-resolution images.

The original image, from Viking Orbiter, is significantly lower than the spatial resolution of the HiRISE camera. The differences in lighting geometry are what made it look like a face. Yes, in the old photo the hill looks like a face. But these new and better images, from Mars Orbiter and Mars Global Surveyor and now HiRISE, reveal incredible detail.

NASA employees have created a stunning video recreating the appearance of the Martian surface 4 billion years ago. It was created based on materials provided by researchers who are part of a new NASA mission called Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution on Mars, which will study the Martian atmosphere and issues related to climate change.

An unusually educational video will help you understand how the climate on this planet changed over a long period (four billion years), how it turned from a planet with numerous frozen and dried water channels and lakes into the planet we have today.

J.F. Rodionova, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Yu.A. Ilyukhina,
State Astronomical Institute named after. PC. Sternberg, Moscow State University

Observations of planets using automatic interplanetary stations (AIS) make it possible to map their surfaces with high accuracy and detail. To date, the Mars Global Surveyor has measured the heights of hundreds of millions of points on the surface of Mars, significantly changing our understanding of the topography of this planet.

Fig. 1 – The hypsometric map of Mars was created using data from the high-precision MOLA laser altimeter of the Mars Global Surveyor. SAI MSU, 2004
Zoom into the Western Hemisphere
Zoom into the Eastern Hemisphere

Ellipsoid of rotation of Mars

New ideas about the relief of the Red Planet are associated not only with high measurement accuracy (up to several meters), but mainly with a change in the level of height reference compared to maps compiled using data from the Viking-1 and Viking-2 satellites. For example, the highest Mount Olympus became 6 km lower - 21.2 km instead of 27, and the Hellas Plain was 3 km deeper than on previous maps. Its depth now reaches –8.2 km. The altitude reference surface on Mars prior to the launch of the Mars Global Surveyor was determined by the gravitational field in combination with a surface on which the average atmospheric pressure was 6.1 mbar. To determine the heights, we used ground-based radar data and data from the Mariner-9, Viking-1 and Viking-2 spacecraft. Errors in height values ​​ranged from 1 to 3 km. Previously, we showed that the average altitude level of Mars was 2 km above the zero horizontal (Earth and Universe No. 4, 1985).

New elevations are measured from the equipotential surface of a triaxial ellipsoid of revolution with the following parameters:

• length of the ellipsoid axes: A = 3,398,627 m (1.0 N, 72.4 E); B = 3,393,760 m (0 N, 342.4 E); C = 3,376,200 m (latitude 89.0 N, 252.4 E);
• compression 1/169.8;
• average radius 3,389,508 m;
• average equatorial radius 3,396,200 m;
• north polar radius 3,376,189 m;
• south polar radius 3,382,580 m.

The new map of Mars was made using the method of layer-by-layer coloring of height steps (21 steps) between the horizontal lines. Up to an altitude of 8 km, the relief cross section goes every 1 km. From 8 to 12 km – every 2 km. Above 12 km, one step with the heights of the peaks is shown in color.

Subsequently, the map was supplemented with new names, and most importantly, such relief forms as mountains, valleys and craters are shown not only by horizontal lines, but also by the “chiaroscuro” method, that is, volumetrically.

Names on modern maps of Mars

Images of Mars taken by the Mars Global Surveyor probe reveal features on the surface of Mars measuring tens of meters in size. As a result, in parallel with the nomenclature of albedo details (dark and light areas), a nomenclature appeared to designate the relief forms of the surface of Mars, identified from space images. An IAU working group on Martian nomenclature was created, which developed general provisions for naming various landforms and proposed dividing the entire surface of Mars into 30 areas corresponding to 30 sheets of a map at a scale of 1: 5,000,000. It was decided to give each area and sheet of the map the name of the largest albedo detail located within its boundaries. Names were given to such landforms as furrows, valleys, plains, mountains and other formations given in the table.

Relief of the Red Planet

Looking at the hypsometric map of Mars, it is easy to notice that the topography of the northern and southern hemispheres are noticeably different. Most of the northern hemisphere is occupied by relatively smooth plains: the Great Northern Plain, extending from the northern polar region, passes in the western hemisphere into the plains of Arcadia, Amazonia, Chrysus and Acidalia, and in the east into the plains of Utopia, Elysium, and Isis. The plains of the northern hemisphere lie below the average level of the planet's surface. For example, the Great Northern Plain has a depth of -4 - -5 km, as do the Utopian Plain and the Acidalian Plain. The plains of Arcadia, Amazonia and Chrys are located 1 km higher. These are depressions on the Martian globe, similar to the oceanic depressions of the Earth. These regions of Mars are different in origin, age and appearance. Subsurface ice played an important role in the formation of the northern plains.

Using the hypsometric map, graphs of the predominance of altitudes in the hemispheres of Mars were constructed.

Rice. 2 – Distribution of surface heights of the Northern and Southern hemispheres of Mars. In the Northern Hemisphere, surfaces with a height of –2 to –5 km predominate; this level corresponds to flat areas. In the Southern Hemisphere, altitude levels from 1 to 3 km are mainly common; hills are located at such altitudes.

In the Southern Hemisphere, there are relatively few plains and they are not as extensive as in the Northern Hemisphere. These are the plains of Hellas (diameter 2300 km and depth up to –8.2 km) and Argir (diameter 800 km and depth about –3 km), which have a circular shape. They were probably formed as a result of large bodies falling onto Mars. Most of the Southern Hemisphere consists of hills covered with many craters. The average heights of the continental part of Mars are 3 - 4 km. The Syria Plateau is located at altitudes of 5 - 6 km, the Sinai Plateau - from 3 to 5 km, the Sun Plateau - from 3 to 4 km, the Hesperia Plateau and Greater Sirte - from 1 to 2 km.

At the equator there is the largest hill - Mount Tharsis, about 6000 km long and up to 8 km high. Three extinct volcanoes rise above it: Mount Askrian, Mount Peacock and Mount Arsia, located on the same line. Their heights range from 14.5 to 18.2 km. Thus, the height of the volcanoes themselves is from 6.5 to 10 km. The highest volcano on Mars and in our solar system is Olympus Mons, located on the northwestern edge of Tharsis, where the altitude marks are 0 km. At its base, the diameter of this volcano is 600 km, and its height is 21.2 km. If you mentally connect the top of Mount Olympus with the peaks of Mount Askria and Mount Arsia, you will get an almost isosceles triangle with sides of 1800 km and a base of 1600 km.

Tharsis is surrounded by an extensive fault system. In the equatorial zone of Mars there is a gigantic system of faults with steep slopes - the Valles Marineris, more than 4000 km long from west to east, up to 6 km deep and about 700 km across at the widest part. The steepness of the slopes of some canyons here reaches 20 degrees. On the western edge of the Valles Marineris there is a unique system of intersecting valleys - the Labyrinth of Night. Frequent valleys that look like dry riverbeds indicate that powerful water flows existed on the surface of Mars in the past. Most of the long valleys are located in the equatorial zone, and only a few of them are found in mid-latitudes.

Rice. 3 – Distribution of surface heights in the Western and Eastern hemispheres of Mars. Several characteristic peaks are visible. The Western Hemisphere is slightly higher than the Eastern Hemisphere. The area occupied by the plains is almost the same in these hemispheres.

The distribution of altitudes in the western and eastern hemispheres looks completely different. There is also a volcanic area in the eastern hemisphere called the Elysian Plateau. There are three volcanoes on it, the largest of them - Mount Elysium - has a diameter of about 150 km and a height of up to 14 km. Individual small volcanoes can be seen in other areas of Mars. A peculiar area of ​​accumulation of flat-topped hills is confined to the transitional boundary from the elevated region to the plains in the northern hemisphere. Here are the Table Mountains of Cydonia, Nilosyrtus, Protonilus, Deuteronilus, located on a section of a large circle at an angle of 35° to the equator; this circle separates the flat (low-lying) hemisphere of the planet from the continental (elevated) hemisphere. The Kydonia Table Mountains region is characterized by an accumulation of chaotic forms associated with a global scarp more than 100 km wide. It is no coincidence that it was there that interesting relief forms were noticed - “pyramids” and “sphinx”. However, photographs from the Mars Global Surveyor showed that there was nothing unusual in these forms.

Martian craters differ from the craters of the Moon and Mercury in their shallower depth and traces of wind and water erosion. The largest of them: Huygens (diameter 470 km, depth about 4 km), Schiaparelli (diameter 465 km, depth 2 km), Cassini (diameter 411 km, depth 1 km), Antoniadi (diameter 410 km, depth 000), Tikhonravov (diameter 380 km, depth 2 km). The deepest crater is Newton (5 km). Some young Martian craters are characterized by radial flow-like ejections of soil in places where subsurface ice is exposed. Such splashes of soil are often found near craters located on the northern plains.

The constructed hypsometric maps revealed a number of interesting features of the relief forms of Mars. In particular, the names of some areas were given based on ground-based observations of very low resolution at the end of the 19th century: for example, the Syrian Plateau, the Sinai Plateau, the Sun Plateau. In fact, it turned out that these areas are not a plateau at all, but are located on a global slope. The same applies to the Dedalia plateau. An extensive plateau is located east of these formations.

A hypsometric map of Mars at a scale of 1:26,000,000 was released in 2004 by the publishing house of physical and mathematical literature (where you can purchase it).