Skip to content
Menu
Home
About
Science Team
Principal Investigator
Institutional Partners
Meet the MAVENites
Spacecraft
Mission Timeline
FAQs
Science
Science Orbit
Instruments
Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)
Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA)
Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC)
Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)
Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW)
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Monitor
Magnetometer (MAG)
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS)
IUVS Imaging Highlights
Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS)
Radio Occultation Science Experiment (ROSE)
Released Results
Publications
Science Data Center
MAVEN Science Spotlights
Space Weather
Education & Outreach
For Educators
MAVEN Educator Ambassador Project
Red Planet: Read, Write, Explore!
Afterschool & Summer Programs
Invisible Mars: Science On a Sphere
Imagine Mars through Native Eyes
Girls Go to Mars
Public Outreach
MAVEN Outreach Webinars
New Media Professional Development
2015 New Media Professional Development Workshop
MAVEN Space Valentines 2022
Going to Mars campaign
Message to Mars contest
Educator recognition selections
Student art contest
About the first-place entry
School-based awards
Multimedia
Spacecraft Images
Team Images
Videos
News & Events
Team Blog
MAVEN in the News
Events
Media Contacts
Menu
Home
About
Science Team
Principal Investigator
Institutional Partners
Meet the MAVENites
Spacecraft
Mission Timeline
FAQs
Science
Science Orbit
Instruments
Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)
Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA)
Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC)
Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)
Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW)
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Monitor
Magnetometer (MAG)
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS)
IUVS Imaging Highlights
Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS)
Radio Occultation Science Experiment (ROSE)
Released Results
Publications
Science Data Center
MAVEN Science Spotlights
Space Weather
Education & Outreach
For Educators
MAVEN Educator Ambassador Project
Red Planet: Read, Write, Explore!
Afterschool & Summer Programs
Invisible Mars: Science On a Sphere
Imagine Mars through Native Eyes
Girls Go to Mars
Public Outreach
MAVEN Outreach Webinars
New Media Professional Development
2015 New Media Professional Development Workshop
MAVEN Space Valentines 2022
Going to Mars campaign
Message to Mars contest
Educator recognition selections
Student art contest
About the first-place entry
School-based awards
Multimedia
Spacecraft Images
Team Images
Videos
News & Events
Team Blog
MAVEN in the News
Events
Media Contacts
Home
IUVS captures sharpened ultraviolet view of Mars
IUVS captures sharpened ultraviolet view of Mars
MAVEN’s Imaging UltraViolet Spectrograph obtained this image of Mars on July 13, 2016, when the planet appeared nearly full as viewed from the highest altitudes in the MAVEN orbit. The ultraviolet colors of the planet have been rendered in false color, to show what we would see with ultraviolet-sensitive eyes. The ultraviolet (UV) view gives several new perspectives on Mars. Valles Marineris, a two-thousand-mile canyon system, appears prominently across the middle of the image as a blue gash. The deep canyon appears blue due to the scattering of ultraviolet light by the atmosphere, so strong that we cannot make out the bottom of the canyon. The greenish cast of the planet as a whole is a combination of the reflection of the surface plus the atmospheric scattering. The three tall Tharsis volcanoes appear near the left edge, dotted by white clouds forming as the winds flow over them. Bright white polar caps appear at both poles, typical for this season, in which there is a transition from southern-hemisphere winter to summer. The magenta-colored region visible at the south pole shows where ozone is absorbing ultraviolet light — the same property of ozone that protects life on Earth from harmful UV radiation. While ozone tends to be destroyed by chemical processes in the winter on Earth, different atmospheric chemistry at Mars caused it to build up in the winter there. A hint of ozone is also visible near the north pole; more will accumulate there as winter is coming. IUVS obtains images of Mars every orbit when the sunlit portion of the planet is visible from high altitude. (Courtesy NASA/University of Colorado-LASP)
Main Menu
Home
About
Science Team
Principal Investigator
Institutional Partners
Meet the MAVENites
Spacecraft
Mission Timeline
FAQs
Science
Science Orbit
Instruments
Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA)
Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA)
Suprathermal and Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC)
Solar Energetic Particle (SEP)
Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW)
Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Monitor
Magnetometer (MAG)
Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS)
IUVS Imaging Highlights
Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS)
Radio Occultation Science Experiment (ROSE)
Released Results
Publications
Science Data Center
MAVEN Science Spotlights
Space Weather
Education & Outreach
For Educators
MAVEN Educator Ambassador Project
Red Planet: Read, Write, Explore!
Afterschool & Summer Programs
Invisible Mars: Science On a Sphere
Imagine Mars through Native Eyes
Girls Go to Mars
Public Outreach
MAVEN Outreach Webinars
New Media Professional Development
2015 New Media Professional Development Workshop
MAVEN Space Valentines 2022
Going to Mars campaign
Message to Mars contest
Educator recognition selections
Student art contest
About the first-place entry
School-based awards
Multimedia
Spacecraft Images
Team Images
Videos
News & Events
Team Blog
MAVEN in the News
Events
Media Contacts