This NASA Mars Instagram photo would not look out of place in the upcoming Alien: Convenant 2 movie if it ever gets made. What you’re looking at is 0° longitude on Mars, which is roughly the equivalent of the Greenwich Observatory equivalent on the Red Planet. The observatory actually marks Earth’s Prime Meridian, or the north-south line that defines where east meets west, and is used as the zero-reference line for astronomical observations.
The larger crater you see here that is located within this crater, called the Airy Crater, was originally considered the 0° longitude for Mars, but as higher resolution photos became available, a smaller feature was needed. This crater, called Airy-0 (zero), was then chosen because it did not require adjustments of existing maps. However, it may be a few more years until the Lunar Crater Radio Telescope (LCRT) begins construction on the dark side of the Moon.
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This image was captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel,” said NASA.
