Astronomy Picture of the Day - Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars

NASA ^ | 1 Feb, 2026 | Image Credit: NASA, MGS, MSSS

[MtnClimber]

Explanation: Mars has put on a happy face. The Martian crater Galle is famous because it has internal markings that make it look like a face that is both smiling and winking. These markings were originally discovered in the 1970s in pictures taken by the Viking Orbiter. The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft that orbited Mars from 1996 to 2006 captured the featured picture. Happy Face Crater and its iconic features were formed by chance billions of years ago when a city-sized asteroid slammed into the Martian surface. All rocky planets and moons in our Solar System show impact craters, with the highest number of craters found on Earth's Moon and the planet Mercury. Earth and Venus would show the most, though, were it not for weather and erosion.

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TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; nasa

[MtnClimber]

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For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then move the magnifying glass cursor then click to zoom in and click again to zoom out. When zoomed in you can scan by moving the side bars on the bottom and right side of the image.

[MtnClimber]

[MtnClimber]

Pinging the APOD list

🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔

[No name given]

Wow.

[SkyDancer]

Tom Hanks was there too?

[Nateman]

I see your smile and raise you a trillion.

[OldHarbor]

That looks look the Kool Aid guy.

[BenLurkin]

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Uh oh.

Just wait.

Soon, there will be seminars, symposiums, and books about The Cydonia Annex.

[Ezekiel]

2026 February 01 - Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars

APOD Podcast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVm9XWj3GAo

(3:55)

🙂

[blueunicorn6]

That’s the coliseum where the games are held.

[telescope115]

That looks look the Kool Aid guy

You’re right! It does!