With NASA’s recent Mars landing in the news, all eyes on Earth have been turned towards the red planet to wonder what feats of exploration humankind will achieve next. One Hungarian is already bringing those vast expanses of space a little closer to us – Dr Henrik Hargitai has just published a comprehensive Mars Atlas, the first of its kind, with 60 pages of detailed geographical maps, as well as climate mapping and diagrams which immerse the reader thoroughly in this alien world.
There are certainly some maps already in existence of the red planet, and papers outlining the various valleys, glaciers and dunes. But these are simple elevation maps, and photomosaics, Henrik explains, and he had a vision for something greater. “Most planetary scientists have a geology background,“ he says. “so their ‘default’ are geological maps. But my background is in geography, so my default is a physical geographic map”.
That background in geography stretches all the way back to childhood. With a laugh, Henrik says, “When I was about ten years old, I already cut out full-page colour photographs of planets and galaxies from library books,” the start of a long career in natural science. “I want to send them my Mars Atlas in return,” he adds, “after 40 years…” As a young man, Henrik studied geography at ELTE, and then participated in an internship at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, where he “learned how to study planetary surfaces professionally”.
As Henrik embarked upon this Mars project, called Mars 36, he began by collecting various feature catalogues – almost 200 – and meticulously transforming them into map layers. In 2020, he applied to an open call from the Europlanet Central Europe Hub, and won. The funding allowed him to complete his work. The 60-page atlas includes topographic maps of the polar caps, climate maps, a weather map for winter and summer, identification of landing sites and forms created by water, ice, wind, lava and tectonic forces, all at a scale of 1:10M-1:12M (MC quads), 1:80M (global overview maps). The atlas also includes explanations in English, Hungarian and Czech.
When asked about what the future holds, Henrik sees huge international potential for new projects. “Next Mars Year – in two Earth years – the Mars 37 will feature Special Regions on Mars which are considered to have high potential to host life,” says Henrik. He currently teaches planetary cartography at ELTE University and hopes more students will head down a similar road. “Students are moving away from the natural sciences,” he admits, so it’s an uphill battle.
Nonetheless, as the atlas gains traction and young scientists have the opportunity to wander the landscape of far-off worlds with the tips of their fingers, he hopes that more wonderful contributions to the field will follow. “Here in Hungary, without spacecraft, we can still analyse data by NASA or ESA to create maps from existing data. We just need human resources and enthusiasm,” says Henrik.
The Atlas is available on Etsy.com and on the Lira online bookstore.
