JavaScript is required
JPL Logo
Image

Investigating Mars: Siton Undae

Sept. 18, 2017
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows Siton Undae, a large dune field located in the northern plains near Escorial Crater on Mars. The bright appearance of the dunes is due to frost cover.

Context image for PIA21948
Context image

Siton Undae is a large dune field located in the northern plains near Escorial Crater. Siton Undae is west of the crater and is one of three dune fields near the crater. The nearby north polar cap is dissected by Chasma Boreale, which exposes an ice free surface. This image was collected during early spring in the northern hemisphere. The bright appearance of the dunes is due to frost cover. As the season progresses the dunes become darker as the frost disappears. 

The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!

Orbit Number: 10413 Latitude: 75.755

Longitude: 299.603 Instrument: VIS Captured:2004-04-19 19:14

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Keep Exploring