This image shows a region of Mars known as Acheron Fossae in wider context. Other notable features – such as Mars’s tallest volcano, Olympus Mons, and a large nearby shield volcano named Alba Mons – are also shown and labelled. The label used here for Alba Mons, Alba Patera, refers to the ‘caldera’ (large hollow) found at the summit of the volcano.
The area outlined by the larger white box indicates the area imaged by the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter on 28 October 2024 during orbit 26287, while the smaller white box shows the part of the surface featured in these new images.
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ALT-text: Contextual map of the Acheron Fossae region of Mars
Image description: The image is covered in many colours, ranging from blue through green, yellow and orange to red. These colours represent the topography of the surface, with an associated bar-key shown at the bottom centre (red is high, blue is low). Geographical coordinates are provided in monochrome bars bordering the image. The image is muted in colour except for a patch outlined by a white rectangle, which is roughly in the centre, portrait-orientated, to show the part of surface imaged by Mars Express. A smaller white rectangle lies within to show the more precise patch of ground featured in new Mars Express imagery. A large red-and-grey dome rises up from the ground in the lower left, indicating the location of Mars’s Olympus Mons volcano, while darkening reds to the top-right show the location of another volcano – Alba Mons.