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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

Oblique view of Olympus Mons

Oblique view of Olympus Mons
Oblique view of Olympus Mons This simulated perspective oblique view shows Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano not only on Mars but in the entire Solar System. The image comes from data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera aboard ESA’s Mars Express orbiter. The oblique perspective angle was created using a Digital Elevation Model. The vertical scale is exaggerated by a factor of five. ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

This image was released along with news of the discovery of water frost for the first time on a chain of mountains near Mars’s equator, a part of the planet where it was thought improbable for frost to exist. The frost is thought to form when winds travel up the slopes of the mountains, bringing relatively moist air from near the surface up to higher altitudes. When this happens before sunrise, the moisture in the air condenses and settles as frost, remaining for a few hours before evaporating in sunlight.