Explanation: What caused this unusual light rock formation on Mars? Intrigued by the possibility that they could be salt deposits left over as an ancient lakebed dried-up, detailed studies of these fingers now indicate a more mundane possibility: volcanic ash. Studying the exact color of the formation indicated the possible volcanic origin. The light material appears to have eroded away from surrounding area, indicating a very low-density substance. The stark contrast between the rocks and the surrounding sand is compounded by the unusual darkness of the sand. The above picture was taken with the Thermal Emission Imaging System on the Mars Odysseyspacecraft currently orbiting Mars. The image spans about 10 kilometers inside a larger crater.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:22 am
by Beyond
Good lead-in for tomorrow's spooky sky. Too bad they aren't folsilized bones. That would be an even better lead-in. And also something that you would be glad is on mars and NOT earth!
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 5:20 am
by enebrad2@comcast.net
My compliments to Emily Lakdawalla for providing such a clear and understandable explanation of the White Rock images (APOD April 7, 2008). Her non-technical discussion is a welcome relief.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:08 am
by Ann
They have found the Abominable Snowman!!!
(Chris, you sure that isn't you?)
Ann
White Fang Rocks on Soupy Sales
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 12:03 pm
by neufer
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 12:55 pm
by orin stepanek
That last link was really something with the formation inside the crater.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 3:35 pm
by MGTS24
Surely if this image was created using thermal imaging, the various tones correspond to the temperature of the different materials, and not 'light and dark' in repect to the visible spectrum. Or is the correspondence between tone and temperature always very close with lithic materials?
Curious
Michael
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 3:56 pm
by NoelC
Good Halloween choice!
orin stepanek wrote:That last link was really something with the formation inside the crater.
What is it about Mars that so many of the images come out looking "inside-out" (meaning that things that should look like indentations seem to be easily misinterpreted as extrusions)?
-Noel
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:22 pm
by Chris Peterson
NoelC wrote:What is it about Mars that so many of the images come out looking "inside-out" (meaning that things that should look like indentations seem to be easily misinterpreted as extrusions)?
It's just that old crater-and-hill illusion, the product of our lighting expectations. The thing with these Mars images is that there is lots of topographic structure, and for the most part, no attempt to orient the images so that the lighting direction is "normal". And of course, there is usually nothing else in the images to provide other cues for our perception.
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Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 4:29 pm
by Myke
Hell, as any self-respecting genius in Ancient Aliens or UFO watchers knows those tracks are Mars Dino-tracks, of course. Its another NASA conspiracy. [Like my spelling?]...LMAO waiting for the conspiracy books to begin to breed. BTW...great picture...science beats ignorance forever!
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:11 pm
by NoelC
Chris Peterson wrote:no attempt to orient the images so that the lighting direction is "normal"
You'd think the "normal" lighting direction would be from above, so why do I see your first image as bumps and the second as divots when I first look at it? Is my brain just upside-down? In all seriousness, the other day I had a DEVIL of a time seeing those dry ice pits on mars as anything but raised plateus.
-Noel
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 8:38 pm
by owlice
Chris Peterson wrote:
Optical00251.png
Optical00261.png
Chris, you have the coolest Legos!
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:40 pm
by Beyond
NoelC wrote:
Chris Peterson wrote:no attempt to orient the images so that the lighting direction is "normal"
You'd think the "normal" lighting direction would be from above, so why do I see your first image as bumps and the second as divots when I first look at it? Is my brain just upside-down? In all seriousness, the other day I had a DEVIL of a time seeing those dry ice pits on mars as anything but raised plateus.
-Noel
I see the first ones as divots and the second one as bumps.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:58 pm
by saturn2
Image of Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
I think that this material has a volcan origin for the low-density and white color light.
A rover "saw" a rock look like this image,too.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:16 am
by ingridkern
Obviously, this is Mars' bony , outstretched hand, Trick-or-Treating at Earth's door. Happy Hallowe'en y'all
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:06 am
by mactavish
Beyond wrote:
NoelC wrote:
Chris Peterson wrote:no attempt to orient the images so that the lighting direction is "normal"
You'd think the "normal" lighting direction would be from above, so why do I see your first image as bumps and the second as divots when I first look at it? Is my brain just upside-down? In all seriousness, the other day I had a DEVIL of a time seeing those dry ice pits on mars as anything but raised plateus.
-Noel
I see the first ones as divots and the second one as bumps.
Copy either image to your computer and rotate it 180 (turn upside down). It will then look just like the other image. (Or, stand on your head to view it if you prefer.) Best I can figure, we are just accustomed to seeing things usually lit from above. In that regard, “normal” is nothing more than “customary”.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2011 11:38 am
by DavidLeodis
Ann wrote:They have found the Abominable Snowman!!!
(Chris, you sure that isn't you?)
Ann
Not YET I think.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2011 Oct 30)
Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 1:09 am
by iamlucky13
MGTS24 wrote:Surely if this image was created using thermal imaging, the various tones correspond to the temperature of the different materials, and not 'light and dark' in repect to the visible spectrum. Or is the correspondence between tone and temperature always very close with lithic materials?
Curious
Michael
Your understanding is a little off, although to be fair, most people don't realize that "infrared" is a very, very broad description of a type of light that can be interpreted to include anything with a longer wavelength than red (infra = beyond...beyond red), although it's usually considered more limited than that.
Measuring in nanometers (nm = billionths of a meter), the deepest red a human can perceive is around 750-790 nm (can vary person-to-person).
Beyond that, is the so called near-infrared (790 nm to 1400 nm) band. Our eyes aren't sensitive electromagnetic radiation at these wavelengths, but generally, it behaves very similar to visible light (reflects off most objects...only very hot objects radiate these wavelengths...things that are just barely not hot enough to visibly glow).
There's two bands of mid-infrared - from 1400nm to 3000nm, to which the atmosphere is opaque, because water vapor in the atmosphere acts absorbs them, acting like a smoke screen to these wavelengths, and from 3000nm to 8000nm. This latter band is getting into what the type of infrared you're thinking of known as thermal infrared - where objects are visible based on their radiation of heat, but typically only if they're hotter than room temperature.
Finally you have thermal infrared, from 8,000nm to 15,000nm (above 15,000nm, most electromagnetic radiation is again absorbed by water vapor until you get down to the microwave radio wavelengths), or about 10-20 times the wavelength of visible light. Objects at room temperature radiate strongly enough in the thermal infrared spectrum to be detectable.
Anyways, although the name of the camera is the "Thermal EMission Imaging System" (THEMIS), it actually has the ability to detect light from all of the above bands, including visible light.
The image from this APOD was taken in a visible or near visible wavelength, so it is reflections of incoming visible or infrared light, just like taking a picture with a camera.
However, your original premise is correct - if this really were an image of emitted thermal radiation, the brightness would be heavily affected by temperature.