Astronomy Picture of the Day

Explanation:

火星全球探堪號正在拍攝火星。 這艘太空船於去年九月抵達，並使用太陽能板進行氣動制動來協助操縱，以移動到更適合的軌道進行全火星探堪。 上面的影像是由數張照片數位組合而成，以模擬離火星表面2700公里的視角所見。 這些照片則是由火星軌道相機，以廣角模式攝於1997年12月底。 影像裡，可見的特徵包括頂部的水手峽谷，以及底部由二氧化碳凍結而成的南極冰帽。 許多通常可見的更細微表面特徵，受到了拍攝這些照片的前3星期，才散去的火星全球性風暴留下的灰塵所覆蓋。

Mars Global Surveyor is photographing Mars. The robot spacecraft arrived last September and continues to use solar panel aerobraking to help maneuver it to a better orbit to survey all of Mars The above image is a reconstruction of several photographs digitally combined to simulate a single vantage point 2700 kilometers above the Martian surface. The images were taken by the Mars Orbital Camera in wide angle mode in late December 1997. Visible features include the Valles Marineris canyon across the top, and the South Polar Cap of frozen carbon dioxide at the bottom. Many finer features that would normally be visible are hidden by dust remaining from a planet-wide storm that subsided only three weeks before these images were recorded.