[X] My Assistant

[CosmicRocker]

... On your IR ratio images, do you know what shows as the cyan color? ...

Bill: I can't make a general comment about the cyan colors, but after looking at about 1000 of these images in my collection from Meridiani Planum, my experience suggests that most of the time the Burns formation rocks appear green. However, sometimes they show up as cyan. I don't know what causes the difference, but it doesn't appear to be simply variability between the uncalibrated images, since sometimes the sulphate sandstones show up as green and cyan in the same image. It may be related to a dust covering, or something else.

See, for instance, the following IR ratio image from sol 423 showing the sandstone in shades of green and cyan, loose dust and sand in purples and greens, and acres of yellow, blueberry armored drifts.


edit: I just remembered that Homestake vein was also cyan.

[Don1]

On Sol 30 there was an MI image of a RAT hole with two blueberries that had been sliced open. They look a lot different from the present spherules. There is almost no internal structure visible, and no sign of a core or a crust.

Sol 30 sliced blueberry

Edit: Also on Sol 162, another sliced blueberry with only very faint internal structure.

Sol 162 blueberry

[Ondaweb]

Thanks for that pic Don. I was thinking I had seen such an image and remembering no hint of internal structure.

[belleraphon1]

I cannot stop roving through these images….

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...M5P2277R2M2.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...M5P2280R1M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...M5P2280R2M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...M5P2281L7M1.JPG

http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...M5P2281L2M1.JPG


Show these images to some friends who get it. Others can only see a of bunch dirt and stone and say … ‘so what’.

For me…can close my eyes and feel the ages old breeze wafting past…. the burn from the cold light of Sol. Want to dip my hands in the ‘dirt’ and sniff the place….. Tell me your tale Mars.

Wow…. Love this place.

[Stu]

I absolutely know what you mean, my friend, and so, a gift for you, and everyone else who "gets it"...



As the great KSR put it so well...

On Mars... on Mars... on Mars...

[belleraphon1]

Absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!

I stand transported....

Thank you Stu....

Craig

[fredk]

A bump on sol 3070 and some nice low-sun shots:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol3070

[marsophile]

With respect to the new berries, recall that Cape York does not have an orbital hematite signature. So if there are substantial numbers of berries there,...?

[Bill Harris]

Bill: I can't make a general comment about the cyan colors, but after looking at about 1000 of these images in my collection from Meridiani Planum, my experience suggests

Precisely, CR. Or maybe, exactly? Over the years I've learnt that the various shades of blue, indigo and burple (bluish-purple), and the various salmons, ochres and tans and the shades of brown of the L257 images (and the other R721 palette) all appear to belong to consistent-appearing rock types. I've been able to identify basaltic, hematitic, "Type A" and "Type B" (ie, unknown, but the same type) rocks. And one of these days we'll get a handle on what this means, but fo rright now, consistent image processing to get consistent results is the key.

Got a new stack of Pancam images from a new outcrop and possibly some MIs. As the phrase goes, yummy.

--Bill

[walfy]

Nicely composed front haz-cam:



The rock looks almost chalky in nature, makes me want to pull out a pocket knife and see how it carves! But, considering its wind resistance, maybe it's pretty tough...?

[walfy]

Just one more for this evening:



Very weird rocks!

[eoincampbell]

I stand transported too!
An amazing color & stereo tour of an amazing place, thanks everyone !

[serpens]

I have to admit to reservations over the identification of these spherules as hematite concretions. Compare this treatment of a known control from Victoria Crater with this new feature, using identical processing.



Now compare with a chunk of suevite (Chester Lake I think).


I feel that the spherules and matrix in the ledge are primarily basaltic provenance but whether lapilli or devitrified glass is open.

[CosmicRocker]

With respect to the new berries, recall that Cape York does not have an orbital hematite signature. So if there are substantial numbers of berries there,...?

I wasn't aware of that. Either the hematite we see in the rover images of this outcrop is limited in extent to the point that it is not visible to the orbiting spectrometers, or the raw jpeg analysis is faulty. I certainly have no legs to stand on if I try to defend an analysis based on uncalibrated imagery. All I can say is that that specific image algorithm has flawlessly identified hematite on the plains since Opportunity first landed. The geology of Cape York is quite different from the plains. There could very well be a mineral in these rocks that has a similar spectral response in the ratios of R1/R2 and R4/R7. I'm not enough of a spectroscoper to suggest which mineral/s that might be.

[brellis]

Devitrification reminds me of scumbling. There is a delightful novel written by William Wharton called The Scumbler.