Okay, I'm a bit confused here and hoping someone can help me out. On Phil Plait's BAD ASTRONOMY blog he is running down his list of "Top Ten Images" of 2007... some gorgeous pictures, one of them being an MRO image of one of the "pits" On Mars. The thing is, I can't recall ever seeing this particular image, nothing like anything this detailed, so I'm wondering did I miss something?

Left: best HiRISE "pit" image I can find. Right: the image on Phil Plait's site.

Click to view attachment

I was wondering the same thing. I don't think that's the same pit, I must have missed the release Phil mentioned.

Ditto - I can't find that on the HiSite... two versions of that first 'hole' - sure - but not that one Phil has cited.

Doug

Here it is. The one on the left.

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003317_1975

Many thanks for tracking that down. Don't know how I missed it. Good to catch up!

Mysterious Mars

Indeed. There's a novel waiting in those pits for someone to write...

I think that Gregory Benford explored this in "The Martian Race." But my copy is at home, so I can't be exactly sure.

Rob