This image was taken on 1 January 2018 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express, and shows a crater named Ismenia Patera.

This crater lies within Arabia Terra, an intriguing part of Mars’ surface thought to have once hosted significant volcanic activity. Scientists remain unsure of exactly how Ismenia Patera formed; it may be the result of a meteorite smashing into the surface of Mars and forming an impact crater, or the collapsed remnants of a once-massive supervolcano.

This image was created using data from HRSC’s nadir channel, which points directly downwards and offers a field of view aligned perpendicular to the planetary surface, and colour channels. The ground resolution is approximately 17 m/pixel and the image is centred at about 2°E /39°N.

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