- For other uses, see Sleepy Hollow.
Sleepy Hollow is the name given to a circular, shallow depression in Gusev Crater on Mars near the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover "Spirit" in 2004. About 12 meters from the landing site, Sleepy Hollow measures about 9 meters across.
The name is an allusion to the locale mentioned in Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (which also gave its name to Sleepy Hollow, New York). According to a press conference, it also is the hollow where Spirit will sleep as it is checked before beginning to rove Mars. However, the most likely reason for the naming was from some tired JPL rover operators working on the mission.
This image shows the Martian terrain through the eyes of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's mini-thermal emission spectrometer, an instrument that detects the infrared light, or heat, emitted by objects. The different colored circles show a spectrum of soil and rock temperatures, with red representing warmer regions and blue, cooler. A warm and dusty depression similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow stands out to the upper right. Scientists and engineers will use this data to pinpoint features of interest, and to plot a safe course for the rover free of loose dust. The mini-thermal emission spectrometer data are superimposed on an image taken by the rover's panoramic camera.
