Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]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 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Stereo Mars near Opposition Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Marco Lorenzi Explanation: Mars looks sharp in these two rooftop telescope views captured in late November from Singapore, planet Earth. At the time, [5]Mars was about 82 million kilometers from Singapore and approaching its opposition, opposite the Sun in planet Earth's sky on December 8. [6]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 [7]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 [8]landing site in 2012. Above Sinus Gomer, white spots are other volcanoes in the [9]Elysium region. At top of the planet is the [10]north polar cap covered with ice and clouds. Taken about two days apart, these images of the same [11]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 __________________________________________________________________ [12]< | [13]Archive | [14]Submissions | [15]Index | [16]Search | [17]Calendar | [18]RSS | [19]Education | [20]About APOD | [21]Discuss | [22]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [23]Robert Nemiroff ([24]MTU) & [25]Jerry Bonnell ([26]UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman [27]Specific rights apply. [28]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2212/Mars-Stereo.png 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.glitteringlights.com/ 5. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/why-is-mars-sometimes-bright-and-sometimes-faint/ 6. https://mars.nasa.gov/gallery/atlas/olympus-mons.html 7. https://www.nasa.gov/jpl/new-gully-channel-terra-sirenum-pia17958/ 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120808.html 9. https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/6056/elysium/ 10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171219.html 11. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mars/overview/ 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221202.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 16. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 21. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=221203 22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap221204.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 24. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 25. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 26. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 27. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 28. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/