                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2022 December 3

                         Stereo Mars near Opposition
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Marco Lorenzi

   Explanation: Mars looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope views
   captured in late November from Singapore, planet Earth. At the time,
   Mars was about 82 million kilometers from Singapore and approaching its
   opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky on December 8.
   Olympus Mons, largest of the volcanoes in the Tharsis Montes region
   (and largest known volcano in the Solar System), is near Mars' western
   limb. In both the images it's the whitish donut-shape at the upper
   right. The dark area visible near center is the Terra Sirenum region
   while the long dark peninsula closest to the planet's eastern limb is
   Sinus Gomer. Near its tip is Gale crater, the Curiosity rover's landing
   site in 2012. Above Sinus Gomer, white spots are other volcanoes in the
   Elysium region. At top of the planet is the north polar cap covered
   with ice and clouds. Taken about two days apart, these images of the
   same martian hemisphere form a stereo pair. Look at the center of the
   frame and cross your eyes until the separate images come together to
   see the Red Planet in 3D.

                      Tomorrow's picture: Powers of Ten
     __________________________________________________________________

       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
                NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

