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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Mars Global Surveyor TES albedo map of Mars (2000)

Mars Global Surveyor TES albedo map of Mars (2000)
Mars Global Surveyor TES albedo map of Mars (2000) The Thermal Emission Spectrometer on Mars Global Surveyor mapped Mars at longer wavelengths, and with a different purpose, than the earlier photographic atlases composed by the Viking Orbiters and Mariner 9. This map is actually more directly comparable to the drawings made by Earth-based astronomers, because it focuses on albedo variations (differences in brightness and darkness from place to place on the surface) as opposed to the geomorphology revealed by cast shadows. NASA / JPL / ASU / Phil Stooke