Gale [2] ( Eng. Gale crater ) is an impact crater on Mars , named after Walter Frederick Gale , an amateur astronomer who observed Mars at the end of the 19th century and described channels on it. Its diameter is about 154 km, the coordinates of the center are [3] The age of the crater is 3.5-3.8 billion years.
| Gale | |
|---|---|
| lat Gale | |
 Gale | |
| Characteristics | |
| Diameter | 154 [1] km |
| Title | |
| Eponym | Walter Frederick Gale |
| Location | |
| Heavenly body | Mars |
Content
Features
Gale Crater is notable for its vast elevation around the central peak. It consists of layered material and rises 5.5 km above the northern bottom of the crater and 4.5 km above the southern bottom - just above the southern edge of the crater itself. Perhaps the rocks that make up this hill have accumulated over about 2 billion years. The origin of this object is not known, but studies show that this is the remnant of eroded sedimentary rocks that once filled the crater completely. Perhaps these are lake deposits , however, discussions are continuing on this issue. Observations of layered deposits in the upper part of the embankment suggest eolian processes , and the origin of the layers of the lower part remains unclear.
Research
On August 6, 2012, the Curiosity rover of the Martian Science Laboratory successfully landed in the crater area. Telemetry was received at 9:31 Moscow time. Five minutes later, the first black-and-white images were obtained, one of which shows the shadow of the rover itself on Martian soil.
When studying the change in gravitational acceleration by the Curiosity rover, scientists were able to find out that the rocks in the crater have high porosity, their density inside the Gale crater is about 1680 ± 180 kilograms per cubic meter [4] .
Notes
- ↑ NASA's Next Mars Rover to Land at Gale Crater , NASA. (eng.)
- ↑ Burba G.A. The nomenclature of the relief of Mars. - M .: Nauka , 1981 .-- S. 64.
- ↑ Gale . Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature . International Astronomical Union (IAU) Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature (WGPSN) (November 17, 2010). Date of treatment February 19, 2015. Archived February 21, 2015.
- ↑ Gale Crater turned out to be porous