APOD 20091019 Nereus Crater on Mars

来源：APOD

It was along the way. The robotic rover Opportunity currently rolling across the Meridiani Plain on Mars has a destination of Endeavour Crater, a large crater over 20 kilometers across which may yield additional clues about the cryptic past of ancient Mars. Besides passing open fields of dark soil and light rock, Opportunity has chanced upon several interesting features. One such feature, pictured above in a digitally stitched and horizontally compressed panorama, is Nereus Crater, a small crater about 10 meters across that is surrounded by jagged rock. Besides Nereus, Opportunity recently also happened upon another unusual rock -- one that appears to be the third large meteorite found on Mars and the second for Opportunity during only this trip. Opportunity has been traveling toward Endeavour Crater for over a year now, and if it can avoid ridged rocks and soft sand along the way, it may reach Endeavour sometime next year.

hj

                               
登录/注册后可看大图

这是今天北京天文馆的翻译

                               
登录/注册后可看大图

火星上的Nereus陨石坑
影像提供：Mars Exploration Rover Mission, JPL, NASA;
图片处理：Kenneth Kremer
说明：
这就是行进的线路。机遇号火星探测器现在正行驶在火星子午线平原上，目标是Endeavour陨石坑，该陨石坑大约20多公里，在那里可能存在着古代火星原始过去的线索。除了空旷区域内看到的黑色土壤以及浅色岩石之外，机遇号还碰巧发现了数个有趣的特征。一个就是在上面这张数码水平缝接全景影像中的Nereus陨石坑，这是一个小陨石坑大约只有10米宽，由锯齿状岩石包围。除了Nereus之外，机遇号最近还发现了另一块不同寻常的岩石，这似乎是在火星上发现的第三块大陨石，也是机遇号此次火星之旅发现的第二块大陨石。机遇号已经朝着Endeavour陨石坑行进了1年多时间，如果它能够成功避开锯齿状的岩石以及松软的沙土，那么在明年的某个时候它就能到达Endeavour陨石坑。

机遇号火星车，是人类智慧的结晶。它真的太棒了。是软件和硬件的完美结合！