Images of Mars -- Part Three

[Swampcat]

Spirit, Sol 809 (L2, L5 & L7 filters).<br /><br />Full size image<br />(1024x1024, 189kb)<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Spirit, again from Sol 809 (L2, L5 & L7 filters).<br /><br />Full size image<br />(1024x1024, 211kb)<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Spirit (L4, L5 & L6 filters).<br /><br />Full size image<br />(1024x1024, 202kb) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[tom_hobbes]

Hi rlb2,<br /><br />Just love the pictures you and swampcat are doing. I tried the link for a larger version of this absolutely stunning image (linked to below) but it's not there.<br /><br />I absolutely must have it! Is there anyway you can get it too me in as large a size as possible, or show me where I can download it. I'd quite like to incorporate some of it into a painting.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Jay.<br /><br />This one <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Jay, I realize you didn't address your post to me, but I had nothing better to do so I put together a panorama that includes the frames you mentioned.<br /><br />This is from Spirit, Sol 695 (L2, L5 & L7 filters).<br /><br />Full size image<br />(4157x1469, 547kb).<br /><br />BTW, I admire your artwork. I don't know if you remember, but we talked about this at one time (don't remember if it was here or over at The Spaceport -- probably there) and several of us were posting our work. I especially admire anyone who can make a living at it <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[tom_hobbes]

Heh heh, you wait all day for an attractive jumble of rocks to happen by and then two come along all at once!<br /><br />Thanks so much rlb2, and thanks also swampy. That rock is easily one of the most evocative images to have come from Mars so far and I'm particularly pleased to have the view in full colour twice! It’s actually extremely useful to have two such individual takes because you each bring out remarkably different qualities in the light and colour of the same scene.<br /><br />Thanks also swampy for the kind words. I do remember. I used to do astronomical paintings many years ago and I’ve been feeling the itch for a long time now so expect to see a few appearing on SDC in the not too distant future. I hope you like them when they appear<br /><br />Once again may I take the opportunity to express my admiration and gratitude to both of you for tirelessly bringing Mars alive day after day. I know I speak for many when I say that both your efforts are one of the reasons it’s such a pleasure to come here.<br /><br />Thanks.<br /><br />J.<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="2" color="#339966"> I wish I could remember<br /> But my selective memory<br /> Won't let me</font><font size="2" color="#99cc00"> </font><font size="3" color="#339966"><font size="2">- </font></font><font size="1" color="#339966">Mark Oliver Everett</font></p><p> </p> </div>

 

[pocket_rocket]

You got that right Tom. Each has a slightly different take on the scenery. Now we can look forward to a third view via your paintings.<br />

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[rlb2]

Post deleted by rlb2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> Ron Bennett </div>

 

[robnissen]

So is that a fossilized sting-ray in the middle of the picture. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> But seriously, is the white thing in the center, part of the image, or is that a processing artifact? Assuming that it is real, does anyone have any guesses what it could be? Jon?

 

[michaelmozina]

These pictures of Mars are really amazing. Its interesting how "Earthlike" the landscape seems at times, and yet without vegetation in any of the images, it certainly has an alien "feel" to it as well.<br /><br />What is most impressive to me is that we have actually landed robotic equipment on Mars that can "roam around" and investigate areas up close, and investigate the local terrain over a long period of time. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> It seems to be a natural consequence of our points of view to assume that the whole of space is filled with electrons and flying electric ions of all kinds. - Kristian Birkeland </div>

 

[Swampcat]

<font color="yellow">"...does anyone have any guesses what it could be?"</font><br /><br />My guess is that it's a rock...actually two rocks since the "tail" of the stingray is the sunlit side of a rock sitting in front of the the rock that makes up the body of the stingray.<br /><br />Pareidolia at work again <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

The sting ray definitely looks like a flat sheet of rock to me. I can think of four possibilities: a spalled off weathering rind, a large chunk of a vein, a thin indurated bed, or a slab of soil crust.<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[bonzelite]

michael, i agree. it is further amazing to fully comprehend the scope of investigation that the twin rovers have performed. we may, at times, take for granted their journeys and weekly downloads of pics and data, but such a thing is actually new and not commonplace compared to past missions. we are actually seeing mars in a way that has never before been possible, with views of varied terrain never before attainable. <br /><br />i still yet never tire of seeing new views. mars' surface is beautiful in it's alien desolation, with formations familiar yet entirely bizarre. i can't wait to see such eyewitness, ground level, views of vallis marineris and olympus mons and other more shocking locations. imagine the stunning view from the rim of vallis marineris in morning fog.

 

[telfrow]

<b>Nanedi Valles valley system on Mars</b><br /><br />These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the Nanedi Valles valley system, a steep-sided feature that may have been formed in part by free-flowing water. <br /><br />Photo caption: <i>Nanedi Valles, a roughly 800-kilometre valley extending southwest-northeast and lying in the region of Xanthe Terra, southwest of Chryse Planitia. In this view, Nanedi Valles ranges from approximately 0.8- to 5.0-kilometre wide and extends to a maximum of about 500 metres below the surrounding plains. This valley is relatively flat-floored and steep-sloped, and exhibits meanders and a merging of two branches in the north. The valley's origins remain unclear, with scientists debating whether erosion caused by ground-water outflow, flow of liquid beneath an ice cover or collapse of the surface in association with liquid flow is responsible. Image captured by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA's Mars Express on 3 October 2004 during orbit 905. North is to the right. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum.</i><br /><br />Link<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <strong><font color="#3366ff">Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yeild.</font> - <font color="#3366ff"><em>Tennyson</em></font></strong> </div>

 

[plutocrass]

<font color="yellow">telfrow- sided feature that may have been formed in part by free-flowing water</font>I'm skeptical. Although it resembles a waterway, it doesn't have to be. It also looks like remnants of a marsquake/fault line. If you show me some oxbows then you'll convince me there was water there.

 

[JonClarke]

Nandi Vallis has very nice meanders in it, something that doesn't happen with fault scarps!<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[plutocrass]

Hi Jon. That's pretty cool. <br /><br />I would like to see some of the Nandi Vallis photos, if you happen to have a link. <br /><br />I also think we should refrain from stating that meanders don't happen by another means. This is because, we're here, down on the Earth, and that stuff is way up on Mars. Different soil, different conditions, altogether...different. And it should be, it's Mars. We don't really know what goes on up there.<br /><br />So I think that the presence of oxbows should be the gold standard for accepting waterflow. Not just meanders. If I was in charge of researching the satellite photos, that's the only thing I would look for. I'm quite surprised so many scientists have accepted lower standards.<br /><br />

 

[JonClarke]

Hi plutocrass<br /><br />If you go to here you will find the MEx images of Nanedi Vallis.<br /><br />This site has some higher resolution MOC images and some words on why a watery origin is likely.<br /><br />You are quite right, lots of flows can produce sinuous or meandering channels. Low viscosity lava, submarine turbidites, and liquid methane are three examples that immediately come to mind. Doubtless other fluids will do the same.<br /><br />However water is by far and away the most likely fluid for Mars. H2O is common and a modest temperature and pressure rise is all that is needed. CO2 is also common on Mars, but you would need much higher pressure to get it, and a CO2 atmosphere dense enough to sustain liquid CO2 would probably be too warm at the distance from the Sun that Mars is at. It's definitely too warm for methane (and there is not enough anyway), ammonia would work at Mars temperatures with more pressure, but there isn't any. So water it is. <br /><br />Oxbows would be good evidence for sustained flow by low viscosity liquids, but I can't think of why they would opnly develop in flowing water. However, they only develop on depositional surfaces, whereas Nanedi Vallis is incised into bedrock. We have seen oxbows elsewhere on Mars of course, most noticeably in Eberswalde crater<br /><br />Jon <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Whether we become a multi-planet species with unlimited horizons, or are forever confined to Earth will be decided in the twenty-first century amid the vast plains, rugged canyons and lofty mountains of Mars</em>  Arthur Clarke</p> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Oppy, Sol 802 (L2, L5 & L7 filters)<br /><br />Full size image<br />(1943x1023, 213kb) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>

 

[Swampcat]

Oppy, Sol 807 (L4, L5 & L6 filters) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="3" color="#ff9900"><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>------------------------------------------------------------------- </em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong><em>"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical. Unsuccessful rebellions, indeed, generally establish the encroachments on the rights of the people which have produced them. An observation of this truth should render honest republican governors so mild in their punishment of rebellions as not to discourage them too much. It is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government."</em></strong></font></p><p><font size="1" color="#993300"><strong>Thomas Jefferson</strong></font></p></font> </div>