APOD: 2026 February 1 Б Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars
Explanation:
Mars has put on a happy face.
The Martian crater
Galle is famous because it has
internal markings that make it look like a face that is both
smiling
and winking.
These markings were
originally
discovered in the 1970s in pictures taken by the
Viking Orbiter.
The
Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft that orbited
Mars from 1996 to 2006 captured the
featured
picture.
Happy Face Crater and its iconic features were
formed by chance billions of years ago when a
city-sized asteroid
slammed into the Martian surface.
All rocky planets and moons in
our Solar System show
impact
craters,
with the highest number of craters found on
Earth's Moon and the planet
Mercury.
Earth and
Venus
would show the most, though, were it not for weather and
erosion.
Sky Surprise:
What picture did APOD feature on your birthday? (after 1995)
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
