Phillips (Martian crater)
# Phillips (Martian crater)

Phillips Crater is a crater in the Mare Australe quadrangle of Mars, located at 66.7° south latitude and 45.1° west longitude. It is 190.2 km in diameter and was named after John Phillips, a British geologist (1800–1874), and Theodore E. Philips, a British astronomer (1868–1942).

## Description

In this area one can often see polygons. Polygonal, patterned ground is quite common in some regions of Mars. It is commonly believed to be caused by the sublimation of ice from the ground. Sublimation is the direct change of solid ice to a gas. This is similar to what happens to dry ice on the Earth. Patterned ground forms in a mantle layer, called latitude dependent mantle.

## Gallery

The enlarged pictures below show these features.

* Phillips Crater as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter).
* Phillips Crater showing polygons with ice in cracks between polygons, as seen by CTX camera (on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). Note this is an enlargement of a previous image.
* Phillips Crater Area, as seen by HiRISE.
* Map of Mare Australe quadrangle with major features labeled.
