Mars Rocks! (now APOD 26/01/2006)

S. Bilderback · Post by **S. Bilderback** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 12:53 pm

[edited by makc - please, people, make smaller pics! originally posted pic here]

Does anyone want to state their interpretation on the makeup of the large two-toned gray in the center right hand side of this picture?

Empeda2 · Post by **Empeda2** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:26 pm

Now that is interesting - especially the markings on the rock - where's the piccy from Bilderback?

Empeda2 · Post by **Empeda2** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:31 pm

Sorry, pretty dumb question...just looking at some of the others now.....

Empeda2 · Post by **Empeda2** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:44 pm

Any rock experts out there?

[edited by makc - click here for even bigger pic.

why dont we have a contest on who can make biggest pic of this rock]

S. Bilderback · Post by **S. Bilderback** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 1:53 pm

If this rock was on Earth I would say that it was incased in calcium carbonate by a slow evaporating sea or a stalagmite or tite in a cave, that doesn't work here. How about a deposit of volcanic ash eroding away?

RJN · Post by **RJN** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:31 pm

That's one strange looking rock! Thanks for pointing it out, S. I am checking into it. It was seen by Spirit on Sol 732 in case anyone is interested. That image is from the Navigation camera. Here is the primary link for that image:
http://origin.mars5.jpl.nasa.gov/galler ... 5R0M1.HTML

- RJN

gordhaddow · Post by **gordhaddow** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:38 pm

How about a mastodon molar in a piece of jaw?

BMAONE23 · Post by **BMAONE23** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:01 pm

Looks to me like the fossilized beak of a rock eating bird

orin stepanek · Post by **orin stepanek** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:41 pm

The rock looks quite out of place there as the other rocks are so different.

Orin

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:44 pm

It looks like work of what once was ocean. The outer two layers look like a beak of a giant bird.

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 10:54 pm

Look at this link, What's the silver flower like thing?

http://www.spacetoday.org/images/Mars/M ... Spirit.jpg

Some of the other rocks at,

http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mars/M ... llery.html

S. Bilderback · Post by **S. Bilderback** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 12:37 am

Look at this link, What's the silver flower like thing?

That is the residual marks from multiple attacks from the rover's abrasion tool.

Aqua · Post by **Aqua** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:43 am

Lets hope the MER team takes a closer look at that rock!~

And THIS feature, seen just over the next ridge in this image...

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ ... 05L0M1.JPG

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 1:56 am

S. Bilderback wrote:
Look at this link, What's the silver flower like thing?
That is the residual marks from multiple attacks from the rover's abrasion tool.

How silly of me to ask that question. Thanks Bilderback....

Since then I have explored net for strange Mars Rock Pictures and found this one being debated. Is it authantic?

http://www.rense.com/general48/stransge.htm

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:54 am

S. Bilderback, the picture you posted inspired me to look at some of the Mars pics closley. Looks like Mars terrain is full of rocks - explained/unexplained. Eyes of the rovers may not be enough.

This picture originally appeared on APOD on 17th May 2005.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050517.html

If you zoom in closely, on the right side of the rover there is cylindrical object like an empty coke tin. What is that? Is that a rock? Something ejected out of rover?

Link below,

http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/astrot ... /my_photos

edmar · Post by **edmar** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:52 am

astroton wrote:If you zoom in closely, on the right side of the rover there is cylindrical object like an empty coke tin. What is that? Is that a rock? Something ejected out of rover?

isn't that a combination of lens spherical aberation, sun from the rear difraction and remnants of the stitching software.

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:49 am

My post is regarding that rock like thing little farther from rover. It is possibly a rock wethered by wind and rain. That's why it looks smooth. The sun rays seem to play a part as well.

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:50 am

astroton wrote:My post is regarding that rock like thing little farther from rover. It is possibly a rock wethered by wind and rain. That's why it looks smooth. The sun rays seem to play a part as well.

OOOOPS!!!!! no rain. I meant past history of water....

kovil · Post by **kovil** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 2:37 pm

Hi, This is my first post, so pardon my disorientation please.

Where does one begin;

The initial thought that hit me was this rock was ejected from Olympus Mons and garnered its evaporative deposite during re-entry from above the then Mars atmosphere. Whatever was in the atmosphere condensed on the rock as it descended; after having cooled off in space it was cold on descent and thus got its coating. It must have had little rotation as the deposits follow an airflow over the rock nicely from its current bottom which is sitting on the ground.

Another aspect of it is; the surface indicates a different composition than the black lava ejecta from local volcanoes lying most everywhere else in the photo. If not chemically different, then process different, in that it is slow cooled with no gas bubbles, suggesting to me it is from deeper in the mantle, thus the Olympus Mons theory of origin.

I also suspect the Mons eruption, or formation by asteroid impact that triggered a deep release of material; resulted in a significant loss of the Martian atmosphere by its shock waves and eruption violence, and maybe was the tipping point in how Mars lost so much of its water and atmosphere.

We need more data. Any chance of having the Rover's grinder arm get some of that deposit material and analyze it.

Neutrinoman · Post by **Neutrinoman** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 7:56 pm

It looks to me like it is a "rock" that was once covered in ice. The ice is slowly sublimating giving us the two tone view.

Bad Buoys · Post by **Bad Buoys** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 8:29 pm

Neutrinoman wrote:It looks to me like it is a "rock" that was once covered in ice. The ice is slowly sublimating giving us the two tone view.

Yes, though I didn't know whether the rock arrived with its icy covering or whether it was a reminant of a winter ice drift. Though there appear to be ice patches further afield I guess you're right. None of the nearby rocks have "ice drifts" and besides, aren't the rovers closer to the equator to take advantage of the stronger sunlight?

So, yes. I agree that it is most likely a recently arrived meteorite or comet core material. We could tell how long ago if the rover will pass back by in a month or so to see how fast the sublimation proceeds.

Skeptic · Post by **Skeptic** » Thu Jan 26, 2006 10:50 pm

Back in Jan 2004, I zoomed in on this image (8.05 MB):
http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/ ... A04995.jpg

What I found was this rock:
http://members.cox.net/skeptical/Mars.shtml

I tried sending the link to various experts who might know, but never got any replies. I've never seen any reference to it.

Any ideas?

Perhaps others could do a better job of enhancing the image.

drrocks · Post by **drrocks** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:12 am

My gawd.....it's the Flying Nun's hat!!!!!!!!!

A little more seriously, if it's around Moab, Utah, where we all know these pics are taken, I'd say the response abt the mastadon tooth might not be too far off, except it would be a dinosaur tooth eroded from those apparenty-sedimentary outcrops on the hillside in the background. Or maybe a piece of a disintegrating RV.....

Ok, now seriously seriously, I've been observing desert rocks, including those in my own back yard, for over 30 years, and have never seen anything quite like this. The facets on the interior chunk are particularly puzzling. About the only thing that comes to mind is a weathered chunk of columnar basalt that ended up in a caliche-forming environment and then left as a fragment or moved somehow to this location, the caliche (white) slowly eroding away. Caliche-covered lava boulders in my neighborhood aren't totally dissimilar. The core rock is light for basalt, however, especially compared to most of the other rocks.

What's particularly troubling though is why is it all alone? One would expect at least a few nearby similar fragments, of the faceted rock or the caliche (well there may be small fragments in the soil all over the place, but no bigger ones?), but there appear to be none.

Curious indeed!

astroton · Post by **astroton** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:35 am

drrocks wrote:

What's particularly troubling though is why is it all alone? One would expect at least a few nearby similar fragments, of the faceted rock or the caliche (well there may be small fragments in the soil all over the place, but no bigger ones?), but there appear to be none.

Curious indeed!

This is in ref to the original post by S.B.... & the post by drrocks.... The two toned stone is not alone. Look past it on left and zoome in closer. There is another such rock but this time covered in black shell kinda material.

Here is the link to my zoom in....look at pic 1.

http://in.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/astrot ... ?.dir=94e9

S. Bilderback · Post by **S. Bilderback** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 2:40 am

My question is now; are we going to find out if the light tone is basaltic or a precipitate?

Starship Asterisk*

Mars Rocks! (now APOD 26/01/2006)

Mars Rocks! (now APOD 26/01/2006)

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Two Tone Rock

Two Tone Rock

Re: Two Tone Rock