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Floor of Occator Crater

Floor of Occator Crater
Floor of Occator Crater Dawn observed this area southwest of Cerealia Facula, near the center of Occator Crater, on July 4 from an altitude of 30 miles (48 kilometers). The view here is 3.0 miles (4.8 kilometers) across. Sunlight comes from the top of the picture, so the many straight features that are light on the bottom and dark on the top are fractures in the ground. Similarly, craters are light on the bottom, where the crater wall catches the light, and dark on the top, where the wall is in shade. Elevated features, like mounds, in this strange terrain are light on the top and dark on the bottom. Several pictures in the Aug. 22 Dawn Journal show similar fractured scenery. Full image and caption. NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA