Astronomy Blog

Nicholson Crater

With Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) on its way to Mars, I thought I would post an image from the little red planet. This image was taken with ESA's Mars Express spacecraft during orbit 1104. It shows the central part of Nicholson Crater which is almost exactly on the martian equator at 195.5° East - it sits at the southern end of the Amazonis Planitia. The image was taken with the HRSC instrument and is a perspective view - there are also views from directly above and one from a different angle to give you a better view of the crater edge (very top of the image) and the central mountain.