APOD: Mars Panorama from Curiosity (2020 Mar 06)

[APOD Robot]

Mars Panorama from Curiosity

Explanation: The Mars Rover named Curiosity recorded high-resolution, 360 degree views of its location on Mars late last year. The panoramic scene was stitched from over 1,000 images from Curiosity's Mast camera or Mastcam. In this version, captured with Mastcam's medium angle lens, the rover's deck and robotic arm are in the foreground, stretched and distorted by the extreme wide perspective. Just beyond the rover are regions of clay rich rock, evidence for an ancient watery environment, with a clear view toward more distant martian ridges and buttes. Gale crater wall runs across the center (toward the north) in the background over 30 kilometers in the distance. The upper reaches of Mt. Sharp are at the far right. Images to construct the panorama were recorded over 4 consecutive sols between local noon and 2pm to provide consistent lighting. Zoom in to the panoramic scene and you can easily spot the shadow casting sundial mounted on rover's deck (right). In July NASA plans to launch a new rover to Mars named Perseverance.

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[bystander]

viewtopic.phpt=40339

[Alex_515]

Hello,

In this picture the sky appears to be blue. In other images it's dusty orange. There seem to be lot of variations in Martian's atmosphere appearances.

Alex.

[JohnD]

Dust storm in front of the far rim?

[GeoXXX]

Hello,

In this picture the sky appears to be blue. In other images it's dusty orange. There seem to be lot of variations in Martian's atmosphere appearances.

Alex.

Hi Alex!
While the sky color does vary depending on time of day and dust in the atmosphere this picture like many others of Mars are in “false” color which is intended to bring out details between ground material but can give false hues to the sky.

For example...


The “real” (closest approximation to what the human eye would see is on the left while the processed image is on the right, notice what happened to the sky...

Another example...


Not that “true” is misleading on two levels...
The “true” image is just an approximation of what the eye would see as the cameras on the rovers do not have the same sensitivity to color bands that the human eye does. It has photos taken through filters to get a color image and those filters are assigned a color that approximately mimics the eye but it’s not a perfect match.
Secondly when it comes to color there really is no “true”or “real”, any wavelength can be shown in any color and it’s just as valid as any other scheme. “Human eye equivalent” is a far better and less misleading title.

Eric

[orin stepanek]

Nice show and tell Eric; well done!

[sillyworm 2]

The true color is a tad dreary...I much prefer the blue sky.A few pots of fake flowers perhaps?

[BDanielMayfield]

Hello,

In this picture the sky appears to be blue. In other images it's dusty orange. There seem to be lot of variations in Martian's atmosphere appearances.

Alex.

Hi Alex!
While the sky color does vary depending on time of day and dust in the atmosphere this picture like many others of Mars are in “false” color which is intended to bring out details between ground material but can give false hues to the sky.

For example...


The “real” (closest approximation to what the human eye would see is on the left while the processed image is on the right, notice what happened to the sky...

Another example...


Not that “true” is misleading on two levels...
The “true” image is just an approximation of what the eye would see as the cameras on the rovers do not have the same sensitivity to color bands that the human eye does. It has photos taken through filters to get a color image and those filters are assigned a color that approximately mimics the eye but it’s not a perfect match.
Secondly when it comes to color there really is no “true”or “real”, any wavelength can be shown in any color and it’s just as valid as any other scheme. “Human eye equivalent” is a far better and less misleading title.

Eric

That was a wonderfully informative post Eric. We see so many "false color" images of the surface of Mars that one can almost forget just how monotonously red the red planet really is. The enhanced images are great for letting us see details of course, but the "true color" side by side provides a stark reality check.

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

[sillyworm 2]

Check out the 360 view on the page via the panoramic link! WOW!

[neufer]

The true color is a tad dreary...I much prefer the blue sky.

A few pots of fake flowers perhaps?

How about a bowl of petunias and a very surprised looking Cetacean

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewtopic.php? ... 50#p157650

[TheZuke!]

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

Or send astronauts (muskonauts?) who are red-green color blind?

[neufer]

Actual Martians

---

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

Or send astronauts (muskonauts?) who are red-green color blind?

Such astronauts (muskonauts?) may be unable to detect the true Martians then.

[BDanielMayfield]

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

Or send astronauts (muskonauts?) who are red-green color blind?

That could help, maybe. I for one love the color red, but on a two week vacation to the red rocks region of Northern Arizona / Southern Utah my eyes started to hurt. I learned to like green.

[heehaw]

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

...and where the sun is dim. And where there is no water....

[Chris Peterson]

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

...and where the sun is dim. And where there is no water....

The Sun is not dim at Mars. You'd have to be a skilled observer indeed to notice a difference from what you experience on Earth.

[neufer]

As a test for astronauts hoping to go to Mars they should make them live for a while in rooms with nothing but red...

...and where the sun is dim. And where there is no water....

The Sun is not dim at Mars. You'd have to be a skilled observer indeed to notice a difference from what you experience on Earth.

dim (adj.) Old English dimm "dark, gloomy, obscure; not clearly seen, indistinct," from Proto-Germanic *dimbaz (source also of Old Norse dimmr, Old Frisian dim, Old High German timber "dark, black, somber"). Of eyes, "not seeing clearly," early 13c. Of sound from early 14c.; of light, "not bright, faintly luminous," from early 14c.

<<Above the Earth’s atmosphere the solar irradiance is slightly more than 1300 W/m² (1300 watts per square metre). The Earth’s atmosphere is not perfectly transparent to sunlight and about one quarter of the Sun’s light is absorbed or scattered before it reaches the surface.

At the Earth’s surface, with the Sun directly overhead at local noon (clear dry atmosphere), the solar irradiance is reduced to about 1000 watts per square metre. This value is highly variable depending upon such things as the amount of dust and water vapor in the atmosphere.

At local noon on Mars, with Sun directly overhead, the solar irradiance is 590 watts per square metre.

All the above measurements are taken with the incident light perpendicular to the absorbing surface. If the sunlight falls on the surface at an angle, less energy will be incident (per square metre) on the surface.>>

[heehaw]

OK, less bright!

[Boomer12k]

Awesome view.... very clear day it seems...

Wonderful detail...

:---[===] *

[Psnarf]

I'm amazed at the fine detail. It's like standing there. We really need to insert a huge electromagnet at the L1 point to protect against the solar wind. Only then will the atmosphere return.

[rjh1153]

Notice the perfect isosceles triangle in the upper left-hand corner. Geographic or ancient directional sign?

[JohnD]

Notice the perfect isosceles triangle in the upper left-hand corner. Geographic or ancient directional sign?

Wow! Yes!! And it obviously points to the mountain on the far side of the crater!!! With an obvious leyline pointing back from that, straight at Curiosity!!!!

Clearly, Nasa should turn Curio and head straight for that mountain. When it gets there, say "Mellon!" and the gates of Moria will open up!

[sillyworm 2]

That triangle is truly remarkable!

[Alex_515]

Hello,

In this picture the sky appears to be blue. In other images it's dusty orange. There seem to be lot of variations in Martian's atmosphere appearances.

Alex.

Hi Alex!
While the sky color does vary depending on time of day and dust in the atmosphere this picture like many others of Mars are in “false” color which is intended to bring out details between ground material but can give false hues to the sky.

For example...


The “real” (closest approximation to what the human eye would see is on the left while the processed image is on the right, notice what happened to the sky...

Another example...


Not that “true” is misleading on two levels...
The “true” image is just an approximation of what the eye would see as the cameras on the rovers do not have the same sensitivity to color bands that the human eye does. It has photos taken through filters to get a color image and those filters are assigned a color that approximately mimics the eye but it’s not a perfect match.
Secondly when it comes to color there really is no “true”or “real”, any wavelength can be shown in any color and it’s just as valid as any other scheme. “Human eye equivalent” is a far better and less misleading title.

Eric

Thanks a lot Eric for the explanation !

Alex

[Chris Peterson]

Hello,

In this picture the sky appears to be blue. In other images it's dusty orange. There seem to be lot of variations in Martian's atmosphere appearances.

Alex.

Hi Alex!
While the sky color does vary depending on time of day and dust in the atmosphere this picture like many others of Mars are in “false” color which is intended to bring out details between ground material but can give false hues to the sky.

For example...

We do need to be careful with these kinds of comparisons, however. While they images give reasonable comparisons of hues, they do not give a good indication of how things would appear to our eyes if we were actually there. The images that look redder are also dimmer, and we would not see that. We'd see a landscape lit up like a bright day, and our eyes would tend to assign the brightest things around to near-white. So we wouldn't see a muddy red sky, we'd see a bright sky with either a reddish or bluish tint (depending on dust conditions), and a generally bright landscape as well.

Color isn't a physical property, it's a physiological one. The same color value in an image will present as a different color entirely depending simply on its brightness.

[rjh1153]

Notice the perfect isosceles triangle in the upper left-hand corner. Geographic or ancient directional sign?

Notice also, on the right side of the triangle is a small rectangular end that could indicate that the isosceles-arrow part of it is pointing to the left and ever so slightly downward.