The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
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This colour-coded topographic image of Mars shows the Acheron Fossae region of Mars. This region shows many signs of past activity, from scratch-like ditches and steep cliffs to smooth plains and tall domes formed by volcanism.
It was created from data collected by ESA’s Mars Express on 28 October 2024 (orbit 26287) and is based on a digital terrain model of the region, from which the topography of the landscape can be derived. Lower parts of the surface are shown in blues and purples, while higher altitude regions show up in whites and reds, as indicated on the scale to the top right.
North is to the right. The ground resolution is approximately 17 m/pixel and the image is centred at about 36°N/230°E.
ALT-text: A topographical map of the Acheron Fossae region of Mars, as seen by ESA’s Mars Express
Image description: The image shows a patch of Mars that is coloured according to the elevation of the ground, in varying shades of yellow, orange, red, and blue (with an associated bar-key shown to the upper left – red is high, blue is low). Most of the frame is yellow. Most prominently, a system of deep grooves begins in the right half of the image and radiates outwards, extending out of frame (shown in deep reds, yellows and blues). A smooth, irregularly shaped patch of ground can be seen in the middle third of the image, while further ridges and ditches – more gentle than those to the right – are again visible in the left third, along with a few scattered circular craters.