This Week's Where In The Universe Challenge

By Nancy Atkinson - June 3, 2009 at 12:27 PM UTC | Observing

It's time once again for another Where In The Universe Challenge. Test your visual knowledge of the cosmos by naming where in the Universe this image was taken and give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft responsible for this picture. Post your guesses in the comments section, and check back on Thursday at this same post to find the answer. To make this challenge fun for everyone, please don't include links or extensive explanations with your answer. Good luck!

UPDATE: The answer has now been posted below. Don't peek before you make your guess!

It was fun to have an image (finally!) where not everyone was completely and absolutely sure on the answer. So, what is it? This is Mars, taken by HiRISE and is layered deposits in the north polar region. HiRISE has been looking at the polar regions to monitor seasonal processes and the permanent polar cap, looking for clues to the past climate record recorded in the polar layered deposits.

To find out more about this image check out

this HiRise page,

and

check here

for other images about climate change on Mars.

And check back next week for another Where In The Universe Challenge!

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com