Cydonia (Mars)

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The original batch-processed photo (#35A72) of the 'Face on Mars' taken by the Viking 1 orbiter and released by NASA/JPL on July 25, 1976. The black dots denote data errors. (Cydonia Region - North is to the upper right.)
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The original batch-processed photo (#35A72) of the 'Face on Mars' taken by the Viking 1 orbiter and released by NASA/JPL on July 25, 1976. The black dots denote data errors. (Cydonia Region - North is to the upper right.)
The second 1976 Viking image (left, image #70A13) compared with the 2001 Mars Global Surveyor image (right). 20 meters per pixel resolution.
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The second 1976 Viking image (left, image #70A13) compared with the 2001 Mars Global Surveyor image (right). 20 meters per pixel resolution.
Mars Global Surveyor high-resolution photo of the "Face on Mars" (North is to the upper left)
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Mars Global Surveyor high-resolution photo of the "Face on Mars" (North is to the upper left)

Cydonia Mensae is an albedo feature (region) on Mars. It lies in the planet's northern hemisphere in a transitional zone between the heavily-cratered regions to the south and relatively smooth plains to the North. Cydonia itself is covered in numerous mesas and may have been a coastal zone if planetologists are correct in believing that the northern plains were once ocean beds.

One of the Cydonian mesas, situated at 30°45' north latitude and 9°26' west longitude, took on the striking appearance of a human Face on Mars in a photo taken by Viking 1 on July 25, 1976. It is generally understood to be an optical illusion, an example of pareidolia. A few, most notably Richard C. Hoagland, believe it to be evidence of a long-lost Martian civilization along with other features they believe are present, such as apparent pyramids, which they argue are part of a ruined city. NASA has stated however that "a detailed analysis of multiple images of this feature reveals a natural-looking Martian hill whose illusory face-like appearance depends on viewing angle and angle of illumination."[1] More recent pictures by the Mars Global Surveyor seem only to confirm the validity of this scientific opinion.[2][3] On September 21, 2006, the European Space Agency published new photographs of the Cydonia region taken by the Mars Express probe.[4] The new images are at a resolution of less than 14 m/pixel (46 ft/pixel).

On October 23, 2006, the European Space Agency published a 3D animation of the "Face on Mars" using a combination of digital data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on the Mars Express probe and the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on board NASA's Mars Global Surveyor.[5]

Originally, eighteen images of the Cydonia Mensae region were taken by the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters, but only seven have resolutions better than 250 m/pixel (820 ft/pixel). The other eleven images have resolutions worse than 550 m/pixel (1800 ft/pixel) and are virtually useless for studying the feature. Of the seven good images, the lighting and time at which two pairs of images were taken are so close as to reduce the number to five usable, distinct images. The Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM image numbers are: 35A72 (VO-1010), 70A13 (VO-1011), 561A25 (VO-1021), 673B56 & 673B54 (VO-1063), and 753A33 & 753A34 (VO-1028).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_60.html
  2. ^ for example [1] in 1998, [2] in 2001
  3. ^ see [3] for a close-up from 2001 and [4]
  4. ^ http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM09F8LURE_index_0.html
  5. ^ http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEMINCO7BTE_0.html

[edit] External links

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