Bear Face Crater Lies in Terra Sirenum in Martian Southern Hemisphere

Summary: A pareidolic bear face crater resides in southern Mars near the heavily cratered Terra Sirenum region's second largest crater, Newton.

image of pareidolic bear face crater in Martian southern hemisphere, captured Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, at 14:29 local Mars time by NASA's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft; ID ESP_076769_1380: courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Public Domain, via UA (University of Arizona) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment)

An unnamed pareidolic bear face crater in the Martian southern hemisphere lies in the Phaethontis Quadrangle's heavily cratered Terra Sirenum near Newton, the region's second largest crater.

A pareidolic bear face crater appears in an image acquired Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, at 14:29 local Mars time, by NASA's (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera. The HiRISE camera is configured into the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), the spacecraft that launched Friday, August 12, 2005, at 11:43 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) as a multi-objective Mars explorer. The craterous bear face portrait was obtained from an altitude of 250.9 kilometers (155.9 miles).

The illusory bear face portrait traces to the psychological perception of visual pareidolia (Ancient Greek: παρα, para, “concurrent, alongside” + εἴδωλον, eídōlon, “image”), which transforms unrelated objects or shapes into familiar faces or objects. For example, the interplay of such influences as light, shadow, shapes and textures occasion the Man in the Moon, the illusory human face perceived by Earth's Northern Hemisphere-based moongazers. A V-shaped collapse structure, two craters and a circular fracture pattern define the features of the pareidolic portrait's nose, eyes and head, respectively, according to American planetary geologist Alfred S. McEwen in "A Bear on Mars?", published during the week of Jan. 23, 2023, as the HiPOD (HiRISE Picture of the Day) for Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023.

The parameters of the image strip of the unnamed bear face crater approximate as top left corner (northwest) at minus 41.54242 decimal degrees south latitude, minus 153.07242 decimal degrees west longitude and top right corner (northeast) at minus 41.53419 decimal degrees south latitude, minus 152.94059 decimal degrees west longitude. The image strip approximately positions its lower left corner (southwest) at minus 41.7141487 decimal degrees south latitude, minus 153.05045 decimal degrees west longitude and its lower right corner (southeast) at minus 41.70667 decimal degrees south latitude, minus 152.94059 decimal degrees west longitude, according to cursor placements over the strip's white rectangle in the map provided in McEwen's Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023, post, "A Bear on Mars?"

location (center; white rectangle) of bear face crater near Newton Crater (left; yellow-green) in Martian southern hemisphere: courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Public Domain, via UA (University of Arizona) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment)

The unnamed bear face crater is located in the Terra Sirenum ("Land of the Sirens") region of the Martian southern hemisphere. The heavily cratered and gullied region is centered at minus 39.49 decimal degrees south latitude, 205.85 decimal degrees east longitude, according to the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. The southern hemisphere region records northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 11.40 decimal degrees south and minus 67.57 decimal degrees south, respectively. The western hemisphere region registers easternmost and westernmost longitudes of 249.68 decimal degrees east and 180.07 decimal degrees east. Terra Sirenum's diameter spans 3,635.18 kilometers.

The International Astronomical Region adopted Terra Sirenum ("Land of the Sirens") as the region's name in 1979. The region's name complies with the IAU requirement of selecting Antoniadi- and Schiaparelli-assigned names from classical mythology for albedo features on Mars, according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature's documentation on "Categories (Themes) for Naming Features on Planets and Satellites." Mapping and naming features on Mars and Mercury number among the achievements of Greek-French astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (Greek: Ευγένιος Αντωνιάδης, Evgénios Michaíl Antoniádis; March 1, 1870-Feb. 10, 1944) and Italian astronomer Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (March 14, 1835-July 4, 1910). Terra Sirenum sources in the map of Martian albedo features, plates 2 to 5, in Antoniadi's La Planéte Mars (Paris: Librairie Scientifique, Hermann et Cie., 1930), according to the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature's profile of Terra Sirenum.

Terra Sirenum occurs in two Martian quadrangles, Memnonia and Phaethontis. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has mapped the Martian surface as 30 quadrangles and named each quadrangle after classical albedo features. Memnonia quadrangle, designated as MC-16 (Mars Chart-16), encompasses latitudes minus 30 degrees east to the equator, zero degrees, and longitudes 135 degrees east to 180 degrees east. Memnonia namesakes Memnon (Ancient Greek: Μέμνων, Mémnôn, "resolute"), King of Ethiopia and Troy-defender.

Memnonia's southern neighbor, Phaethontis (MC-24; Mars Chart-24), covers latitudes 30 degrees east to 65 degrees east and longitudes 120 degrees west to 180 degrees west. Phaethontis ("of Phaethon") eponymizes Greek mythology's Phaethon (Ancient Greek: Φᾰέθων, phaéthōn, "radiant, shining"), whose reckless driving of the chariot of his father, Helios (Ancient Greek: Ἥλιος, Hêlios) the Sun God, across the sky occasioned his thunderbolt murder by sky and thunder god Zeus (Ancient Greek: Ζεύς).

In the Terra Sirenum, the bear face crater neighbors southeast of the region's second largest crater, Newton. The impact crater is centered at minus 40.50 decimal degrees south latitude, 201.97 decimal degrees east longitude. The southern hemisphere crater obtains northernmost and southernmost latitudes of minus 37.97 decimal degrees south and minus 43.03 decimal degrees south, respectively. The western hemisphere crater's easternmost and westernmost longitudes extend to 205.30 degrees east and 198.64 degrees east, respectively. Newton Crater's diameter measures 299.94 kilometers.

The Martian southern hemisphere's unnamed bear face crater resides in a heavily cratered region. Yet, a unique assemblage of light-shadowed formations and textures assure the bare face crater's noticeable pareidolic photogenicity.

Unnamed bear face crater appears as green-colored crater (lower right) in green-colored, mid-elevation patch southeast of Newton Crater in detail of north central Phaethontis quadrangle: Phaethontis, MC24 (Mars Chart-24), via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to the memory of our beloved blue-eyed brother, Charles, who guided the creation of the Met Opera and Astronomy posts on Earth and Space News. We memorialized our brother in "Our Beloved Blue-Eyed Brother, Charles, With Whom We Are Well Pleased," published on Earth and Space News on Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, an anniversary of our beloved father's death.

Image credits:

image of pareidolic bear face crater in Martian southern hemisphere, captured Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, 14:29 local Mars time by NASA's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft; ID ESP_076769_1380: courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Public Domain, via UA (University of Arizona) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) @ https://www.uahirise.org/ESP_076769_1380

location (center; white rectangle) of bear face crater near Newton Crater (left; yellow-green) in Martian southern hemisphere: courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, Public Domain, via UA (University of Arizona) HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) @ https://www.uahirise.org/ESP_076769_1380

Unnamed bear face crater appears as green-colored crater (lower right) in green-colored, mid-elevation patch southeast of Newton Crater in detail of north central Phaethontis quadrangle: Phaethontis, MC24 (Mars Chart-24), via USGS Astrogeology Science Center / Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature @ https://asc-planetarynames-data.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mc24_2014.pdf

For further information:

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Albedo Features: Names from classical mythology assigned by Schiaparelli and Antoniadi." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Surface Feature Categories > Mars and Martian Satellites > Mars.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Mars Regional Names." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Search by Feature Types > Terra, Terrae > PDF Maps of Mars.
Available @ https://asc-planetarynames-data.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mola_regional.pdf

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Memnonia." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Search by Feature Types > Albedo Features. Last updated Oct 01, 2006, 3:30 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/3826

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Newton." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Search by Feature Types > Terra, Terrae. Last updated Nov. 17, 2010, 9:58 AM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4236

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Phaethontis." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Search by Feature Types > Albedo Features. Last updated Oct 01, 2006, 3:30 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4683

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Phaethontis MC-24." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Mars Images With Names > Mars 1:5 million-scale THEMIS Images.
Available @ https://asc-planetarynames-data.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/mc24_2014.pdf

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Terra Sirenum." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Nomenclature > Mars > Target: Mars > Search by Feature Types > Terra, Terrae. Last updated Oct. 1, 2006, 3:30 PM.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/5932

International Astronomical Union (IAU) / U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. "Terra Terrae TA Extensive land mass." USGS Astrogeology Science Center > Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature > Documentation > Descriptor Terms.
Available @ https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/DescriptorTerms

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