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At the center of this image is a large crater with rough walls and debris from the impact strewn about.  Much of this rougher terrain is colored blue and extends diagonally from bottom left to top right.  Smoother lava surfaces colored orange and yellow come in around the crater and ejected material.  Smaller craters formed after the impact crater and the lava randomly dot the surface as well.
Full Res JPG (777 kB)

A Colorful Marriage of Old & Young

Primordial and prehistoric come together in a lasting bond of something old, something new, something orange, and something blue. In this false-color image, blue signals cooler sand or dust around an ancient crater, which dates back to a violent time of cataclysmic collisions about 4 billion years ago, shortly after Mars formed. Later, sheets of lava streamed across the surface and lapped against the crater walls. These younger lava rocks "glow" orange and yellow since they retain more heat at night than the sand and dust.

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