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APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 5:09 am
by APOD Robot
White Rock Fingers on Mars
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
featured picture was taken with the
Thermal Emission Imaging System on the
Mars Odyssey, the longest serving
spacecraft currently orbiting
Mars. The image spans about 10 kilometers inside a
larger crater.
[/b]
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 5:40 am
by daddyo
I wonder what Mars smells like... With all the great imagery that NASA/JPL/Hollywood/etc. has provided us, I still wonder how it would truly "feel" - standing on the gritty untouched rusty surface. That material inevitably gets inside your suit.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:16 am
by old dude
The uncropped picture clearly shows one of the turtles that carries the flat Earth on its back, having a short break from work.
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:51 pm
by SummerDink
In the image on today's post are a series of bubble-like formations around the ash field. They are perfectly round. It seems like they are bubbles from a molten surface, frozen in time. Very cool. Any idea how they were formed?
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 3:12 pm
by rstevenson
SummerDink wrote:In the image on today's post are a series of bubble-like formations around the ash field. They are perfectly round. It seems like they are bubbles from a molten surface, frozen in time. Very cool. Any idea how they were formed?
Those are craters, which it seems you are seeing inside out. Stare at them for a bit, imagining they are low in the center with higher edges. They'll likely pop into the correct relation. If not, copy the image down to your computer, open it in an image editor and rotate it 180°. You should see it correctly then.
Rob
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 6:01 pm
by BMAONE23
old dude wrote:
The uncropped picture clearly shows one of the turtles that carries the flat Earth on its back, having a short break from work.
With that much fire coming out of its arm and leg holes it looks more like Gamera
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 6:18 pm
by starsurfer
I think Emily Lakdawalla would really like this image, she is literally drowning in an ocean of a neverending supply of amazing planetary images from so many space probes! What an amazing age we live in!
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:24 pm
by Janette
Kaiju footprint!
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:42 am
by Boomer12k
Wrote mine before reading the others....are we all on the same page, or WHAT????
Alternate theories include an extremely large Kaiju...Japanese for Strange Beast or Monster... As some Ancient AstroNUTJOB Theorists Believe....
My father used to come out to the end of the driveway where I had my scope set up and taking pictures, and he sometimes looked at Jupiter, etc.... he was 92, had heart failure, and passed away last Thurday...the 11th...
He used to watch that stupid show...but ONLY for entertainment....
:---[===] *
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 5:04 am
by Ann
Boomer12k wrote:Wrote mine before reading the others....are we all on the same page, or WHAT????
Alternate theories include an extremely large Kaiju...Japanese for Strange Beast or Monster... As some Ancient AstroNUTJOB Theorists Believe....
My father used to come out to the end of the driveway where I had my scope set up and taking pictures, and he sometimes looked at Jupiter, etc.... he was 92, had heart failure, and passed away last Thurday...the 11th...
He used to watch that stupid show...but ONLY for entertainment....
:---[===] *
I'm sorry to hear about your father.
Ann
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:27 pm
by DavidLeodis
I'm
. The "featured picture" in the explanation brings up a coloured image in which the White Rock Fingers are seen, so it does not seem unreasonable to assume that the black & white image used for the APOD was produced from the coloured image. In the information with the coloured image it states "Captured: 2004-06-02". However, the black & white image was used as an APOD on 2002 May 13 so it must have been taken before 2004-06-02! I wonder when the black & white image was taken?
Re: APOD: White Rock Fingers on Mars (2016 Feb 15)
Posted: Wed Feb 17, 2016 2:32 am
by BMAONE23
Janette wrote:Kaiju footprint!
Kaiju foot bones