Hubble Space Telescope Imaging and Spectroscopy of Mars During 2001

Details Hubble Space Telescope Imaging and Spectroscopy of Mars During 2001 Hubble Space Telescope Imaging and Spectroscopy of Mars During 2001

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufm.p42a0554b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #P42A-0554

Physics

6225 Mars

Scientific paper

During the 2001 Mars opposition, Earth and Mars were closer than at any time since 1988, providing a rare opportunity for relatively high spatial resolution telescopic studies of the red planet. We exploited this opportunity using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to acquire images and spectra of Mars in the UV to short-wave near-IR, focusing on atmospheric ozone and aerosol studies, tracking of atmospheric dust storm activity, and identification of surface and airborne dust composition and mineralogy. Here we focus on the latter two aspects; the ozone and aerosol studies are described separately by Wolff et al. (this volume). Our 2001 HST imaging observations utilized the WFPC2 instrument and up to 12 narrow- to medium-band filters covering the 255 nm to 1042 nm wavelength region. Observations were obtained on January 16, February 13, April 2, May 13, June 26, August 9, 10, 14, and September 4. The latter four dates were timed to provide global mapping coverage. The observations acquired on June 26 (Ls=185; start of southern summer) are the highest spatial resolution images of Mars ever acquired from Earth, and show details as small as 15-30 km on the surface. In addition, these images show the onset of a southern hemisphere (Hellas) dust storm that went on to engulf the entire planet in subsequent days. Images in August and September reveal various aspects of the maturation and fallout stages of this storm, which may be the largest global-scale dust event to occur on Mars since the late 1970s. This storm has also been closely monitored with instruments on the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft from Mars orbit, providing the opportunity for synergistic studies with HST. Our 2001 HST spectroscopic observations included a set of four measurements on August 9, 10, 14, and September 4 using the STIS instrument. Spectra were obtained from approximately 290 to 570 nm at a spectral resolution of 0.275 nm/channel. By scanning the STIS slit in a "pushbroom" fashion, we were able to obtain 3-dimensional hyperspectral image cubes of nearly the entire surface of the planet at approximately 20x80 km spatial resolution over these wavelengths. These data are being analyzed for evidence of absorption features diagnostic of specific ferric or ferrous mineral phases on Mars.

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