APOD on Nostr: **Astronomy Picture of the Day** 02 February 2026 **Galle: Happy Face Crater on ...

**Astronomy Picture of the Day**

02 February 2026

**Galle: Happy Face Crater on Mars**



Image Credit: NASA, MGS, MSSS

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.

#APOD #GalleCrater #HappyFaceCrater #Mars #MartianGeology #ImpactCrater

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260201.html