--- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
<snip> I am writing a story, and want to use the photo in it. Can anyone please give me an explanation for the lopsidedness and the blue crescent at the bottom?
Nicely done, Joe. Your pictures have a lot of surface contrast. The white cap is the northern polar snow cap. Your images are upside down. I can't tell if there also is a left to right reversal. See this S&T article with photos on the current orientation or Mars. http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1617_1.asp During October on Earth (Martian February), the northern hemisphere of Mars is nearing the end of winter. http://cmex.ihmc.us/cmex/data/MarsCalendar/orbits.jpg in http://cmex.ihmc.us/cmex/data/MarsCalendar/index.html On Oct. 18, the ESA Mars Express mission issued a northern polar cap fly-over movie. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM8T86Y3EE_0.html S&T also has a web-applet that allows you to determine the current orientation of Mars's globe and as an aid in identifying features. http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/planets/article_997_1.asp Article with link that launches the web applet. Using the applet for last night, I am not able to match up your photo with features. Maybe other more experienced group members will know. Some good amateur comparative photos can be found at the ALPO Mars Section website: http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/marstuff/recobs.html in http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/alpo/mars.html - Canopus56(Kurt) Another global scale Mars map can be found at USGS: http://pdsmaps.wr.usgs.gov/PDS/public/explorer/html/molaintm.htm but it is not suitable for non-astronomical readers. __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com