*This caption was supplied by NASA Goddard
Syrtis Major - Point Perspective
Mosaic of the Syrtis Major hemisphere of Mars projected into a point
perspective, a view similar to that which one would see from a
spacecraft. The viewer's distance is 2,000 kilometers above the surface
of the planet. This mosaic is composed of about 100 red and violet
filter Viking Orbiter images. The images were acquired in 1980 during
early northern summer on Mars. The center of this image is near latitude
-1.0, longitude 306.
The large bright colored area, located in the upper left area of the
image is known as Arabia. The dark area to the right of Arabia, called
Syrtis Major Planus, is a low-relief volcanic shield of probable
basaltic composition. Bright white areas to the south, including the
Hellas impact basin at extreme lower right, are covered by carbon
dioxide frost. Regions to the west and south of Syrtis Major are heavily
cratered and relatively old. The dark feature coming around the western
horizon is known as Sinus Sabaeus.
Image Processing by Jody Swann/Tammy Becker/Alfred McEwen,
using the PICS (Planetary Image Cartography System) image processing system