pipplo_imp
Mars2020 - Perseverance - PIA26368 - WATSON - SOL 1212 - Photo A
Reconstruction using our artificial intelligence model from the NASA's image PIA26368 photos captured by Perseverance at SOL 1212 (July 18, 2024) using the WASTSON Camera. The time is not known precisely, but we know the times of the other photos from this same instrument, between 12:52:02 and 13:01:26 LMST.
Along the rock are large white veins of calcium sulphate. Between these veins are bands of material whose reddish colour suggests the presence of haematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its characteristic rusty hue. Scientists are particularly interested in the millimetre-sized, irregularly shaped, light-coloured spots on the central reddish band surrounded by a thin ring of dark, leopard-spot-like material. Spots of this type on sedimentary terrestrial rocks can occur when chemical reactions involving haematite transform the rock from red to white.
These reactions can also release iron and phosphate, possibly causing the formation of the black halos, and can be a source of energy for microbes, hence the association between these features and microbes in a terrestrial environment. The white, gnarled material seen on the sides of the spots is speckled with some green olivine crystals, which form in igneous rocks such as lava flows. It is not known whether the olivine formed at the same time as the ‘leopard spots’. Scientists hope to establish a timeline for the formation of olivine and the spots.
The file is available at 77.97 millions of pixels for download at a resolution of 10240x7614 pixels.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/PipploIMP.
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Mars2020 - Perseverance - PIA26368 - WATSON - SOL 1212 - Photo A
Reconstruction using our artificial intelligence model from the NASA's image PIA26368 photos captured by Perseverance at SOL 1212 (July 18, 2024) using the WASTSON Camera. The time is not known precisely, but we know the times of the other photos from this same instrument, between 12:52:02 and 13:01:26 LMST.
Along the rock are large white veins of calcium sulphate. Between these veins are bands of material whose reddish colour suggests the presence of haematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its characteristic rusty hue. Scientists are particularly interested in the millimetre-sized, irregularly shaped, light-coloured spots on the central reddish band surrounded by a thin ring of dark, leopard-spot-like material. Spots of this type on sedimentary terrestrial rocks can occur when chemical reactions involving haematite transform the rock from red to white.
These reactions can also release iron and phosphate, possibly causing the formation of the black halos, and can be a source of energy for microbes, hence the association between these features and microbes in a terrestrial environment. The white, gnarled material seen on the sides of the spots is speckled with some green olivine crystals, which form in igneous rocks such as lava flows. It is not known whether the olivine formed at the same time as the ‘leopard spots’. Scientists hope to establish a timeline for the formation of olivine and the spots.
The file is available at 77.97 millions of pixels for download at a resolution of 10240x7614 pixels.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/PipploIMP.
Our Facebook Page: bit.ly/PipploFB
Our YouTube Channel: bit.ly/PipploYT