[X] My Assistant

[Stu]

Well, what does everyone think of our long-awaited first view..?

[climber]

Well, did I spot the first caves on Mars?
Sofi cater can be seen here and the caves are on the left into the Cliffs. Probably more caves are visible on the same level on other Cliffs.
Corrected with arrows


Much more evident that these are big holes in Nico's anaglyph. Some one see the same?

[Tesheiner]

Wow! This new pancams are what I was waiting for a loooong time.

Nirgal: I thought (hoped) that Oppy would be out of the current restricted period very soon ...

It would be the case if the pics were downlinked at the proper time, but given the current DSN issues and the late arrival of images, what happens is that the restricted sols period is somehow extended.

Fredk: The navcam crop showing beacon and "sluffing slab" I posted above has been superceeded by this pancam frame (incase anyone looked at the L2 frames alone).

I'm one of those! I downloaded all L2 pics and said to myself: "Damn, the beacon is just off to the left. If we had another additional frame...". Just forgot that right-lens pancams points 2º leftwards.
BTW, nice work with that previous contrast-enhanced image; the outcrops and the near-rim contour are very well defined.

[RNeuhaus]

Well, did I spot the first caves on Mars?
Sofi cater can be seen here and the caves are on the left into the Cliffs. Probably more caves are visible on the same level on other Cliffs.
Corrected with arrows


Much more evident that these are big holes in Nico's anaglyph. Some one see the same?

I don't think the spoted alcoves have caves. These might most probably be the result of light shade. Next wait for the next hops!

Rodolfo

[mhoward]

Sol 943 combined Navcam/Pancam equirectangular:


Big version

[Nirgal]

here are a few first color attempts (not easy with those first noisy over-stretched pancam JPGs ...

unfortunately there seem to be problems with my web space provider right now so I'm trying to
provide the images as forum attachment:

[Marz]

I don't think the spoted alcoves have caves. These might most probably be the result of light shade. Next wait for the next hops!

Rodolfo

Climber!!! Now I'm gonna be silly dreaming of martian caverns until we get proper lighting on those shadows. Did ustrax put you up to this?

Seriously, it doesn't seem implausable given the readily soluable evaporite layers and percolating groundwater that there might be solution cavities somewhere in the strata. But didn't Victoria's impact happen after ALL evaporite layers had formed, and so the groundwater was already gone? If so, then you'd think the impact shock would've destoyed any pre-existing features as delicate as a cave?

[MaxSt]

Boring plains for months, then BAM! Amazing...

Oppy spent 220 sols investigating half of Endurance, looks like not even 880 sols will be enough for Victoria.

[dilo]

In this PanCa festival, this post can appear obsolete...
Anyway, I used the official released NavCam stitch to create this stretched, colored version:

some work was done in order to uniform the pictures uniformity, local/overal contrast and sharpening (sky is artificial).

[Nirgal]

and those are based on a fine de-vignetted b/w version done by Marco (dilo) on the released JPL navcam-pano:



note, that the usual false-color-warning disclaimer applies of course

EDIT:
oops: Marco, you beat me on the second to it

[Nix]

I don't think the spoted alcoves have caves. These might most probably be the result of light shade. Next wait for the next hops!

Rodolfo

The data is clipped so don't get any hopes up for caves, although perhaps there will be small cavities between large boulders on the rim.

Nice colors Nirgal!

edit; woaw -more color, great work.

Nico

[Shaka]

snip...
Have you notice the "leveled" line that goes all the way from the left to the right, not visible in the Bays but clearly visible on the cliffs. It tells us something but I wonder what. ....snip... Could it be the original rock before the impact that formed VC ?

How wonderfully intuitive you are, Climb! I salute you, mon ami, for you have focused on the first great discovery to be made at Victoria. (Let's hope there will be many more!) That "levelled line" proves beyond doubt that the present surface layers of evaporite in this area of Meridiani were laid down AFTER the VC impact formed the crater, its ejecta blanket and raised rim were eroded away, and the crater was filled with material.

Since the 'blueberry' concretions in these layers must have formed AFTER the surface sandstones were laid down and saturated with acidic water during Mars' "Wet Period", the Victoria impact must have happened BEFORE the Wet Period. If we accept the many arguments the professionals have produced to show that the Wet Period was a very long time ago (i.e. over 3 billion years ago), then we can conclude that Victoria Crater is older than that. (Wow. Not bad for a "levelled line", eh?)

I hear a few skeptics in the "Young Victoria" Club clearing their throats to ask why the level surface stratum could not have formed before the VC impact? I answer that, if that were so, the stratum would no longer be level. The huge energy of the impact would have shattered and tumbled the evaporite far beyond its original rim. Remember little Beagle Crater? No two chunks of adjacent evaporite had the same orientation; they were more-or-less randomly jumbled. So Beagle formed after the evaporite was deposited. Victoria formed before.

I think it must be the mountaineer in you, Climber, who instantly realised that a level depositional stratum and a violently disruptive event like mountain building (or impact cratering) are not consistent. Beau geste!

[Ant103]

I have a bit late but it was time to show my processings

There is two images, an anaglyph and a simple view :





And my page for those who understand french .
...

I have the impression to have forgeted some thing...

Ow!

WHAT A GREAT VIEW!!! And it's a very small part of the future and incredible view we will see in a short time.

Hail Victoria!

[mhoward]

A cylindrical projection:

[marswiggle]

I haven't been able to find a satellite view that includes those far away hills. Does anyone know where one is?

Link(s) to MEX image here
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...c=2653&st=0
and here cropped images with directions.
http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...3056&st=570

I just realized that this already mentioned single pancam frame includes three craters totally dissimilar to each other - Viccy, Sofi and the Far Big One - or four, if the little hole just at the fore edge of Vic on the right is one - or five, if the vast depression beyond Vic is an eons old paleocrater (speculative). One of the best shots by Oppy so far, in any case.

[jamescanvin]

I haven't been able to find a satellite view that includes those far away hills. Does anyone know where one is?

We talked about this when it first appeared -

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...ost&p=66819

http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.p...ost&p=66855

Some people doubt we can see that far, but it's nowhere near as far as the Gusev rim is from Spirit and it's midwinter when the atmosphere should be at it's clearest.

James

EDIT: Oops, Cross Post.