Possible meteor strikes on Mars?

[Smersh]

<p>Thanks to my friends &nbsp;beeleaver66 and DrDil, for putting these frames together in an animation. They were taken by Spirit's navcam on Sol 504, and the original frames are all here:&nbsp;http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/spirit_n504.html</p><p><img id="fullSizedImage" style="width:500px;height:256px" class="media" src="http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o106/smersh_photos/Marsmet1.gif?t=1235373143" alt="Marsmet1.gif picture by smersh_photos" /></p><p>Possibly 2 or more meteors (if that's what they are.) Note what appears to be dust coming up from the surface on left hand side of picture, and a black speck coming down just after to the right (although I suppose it could be pixelling or something.)</p><p>Any ideas guys? Cheers.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[JonClarke]

I suspect the dust are just small dust devils.&nbsp; The black spot may be a small data dropout. <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>

 

[MeteorWayne]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>I suspect the dust are just small dust devils.&nbsp; The black spot may be a small data dropout. <br />Posted by jonclarke</DIV><br /><br />Certainly looks like a dust devil to me. They are quite common on Mars.</p><p>The individual frames are about 20 seconds apart, and cover a period of&nbsp;39 minutes. A meteor impact would be over in an instant.</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[Smersh]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Certainly looks like a dust devil to me. They are quite common on Mars.The individual frames are about 20 seconds apart, and cover a period of&nbsp;39 minutes. A meteor impact would be over in an instant. <br /> Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV> &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Thanks guys it does sound like a dust devil then. I didn't actually know how far apart the frames were but 39 mins would be one SLOW meteor!&nbsp;<img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif" border="0" alt="Laughing" title="Laughing" /> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[beeleaver66]

<p>Hey Smersh, everyone, thanks for looking. </p><p>I initially saved these pics in my Windows Picture Viewer, and in flipping from frame to frame, saw the motion, &nbsp; in addition and what is lost in the animation,&nbsp; is another pixeling speck, far to the right,&nbsp; but it is light colored and not dark,&nbsp; like the speck we see.&nbsp; It "hits" or makes a dust cloud simultaneously to what I thought was the dark speck hitting the ground.&nbsp; But you are correct, the time between frames would not be conducive to a sudden strike.&nbsp; Thanks </p><p>A. Beeleaver </p>

 

[Smersh]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>Hey Smersh, everyone, thanks for looking. I initially saved these pics in my Windows Picture Viewer, and in flipping from frame to frame, saw the motion, &nbsp; in addition and what is lost in the animation,&nbsp; is another pixeling speck, far to the right,&nbsp; but it is light colored and not dark,&nbsp; like the speck we see.&nbsp; It "hits" or makes a dust cloud simultaneously to what I thought was the dark speck hitting the ground.&nbsp; It looks like something created more dust in the devil than wind.&nbsp; Maybe I'm looking too hard?&nbsp;&nbsp; Again thanks, and this is a great site!!!&nbsp; How does one determine the time between frames?&nbsp; That would help me with other anomalies&nbsp; I have found. A. Beeleaver <br /> Posted by beeleaver66</DIV> &nbsp;</p><p>Hi beeleaver and welcome to Space.com. <img src="http://sitelife.space.com/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-smile.gif" border="0" alt="Smile" title="Smile" />&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p>I was wondering about how the time between frames is determined as well. The dust devil / cloud does seem to move in the animation fairly smoothly, I thought but I guess the Rover navcam pictures have a standard time lapse of 20 seconds do they Wayne / Jon? Or do NASA sometimes vary the time lapse? &nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'> &nbsp;Hi beeleaver and welcome to Space.com. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; I was wondering about how the time between frames is determined as well. The dust devil / cloud does seem to move in the animation fairly smoothly, I thought but I guess the Rover navcam pictures have a standard time lapse of 20 seconds do they Wayne / Jon? Or do NASA sometimes vary the time lapse? &nbsp; <br />Posted by Smersh</DIV><br /><br />If you click on each individual image, it has a time stamp. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[Smersh]

<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>If you click on each individual image, it has a time stamp. <br /> Posted by MeteorWayne</DIV> &nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Ok cheers I see what you mean - as in "Left Navigation Camera Non-linearized Sub-frame EDR acquired on Sol 504 of Spirit's mission to Gusev Crater at approximately 13:28:54 Mars local solar time. NASA/JPL" etc. &nbsp;</p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <h1 style="margin:0pt;font-size:12px">----------------------------------------------------- </h1><p><font color="#800000"><em>Lady Nancy Astor: "Winston, if you were my husband, I'd poison your tea."<br />Churchill: "Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."</em></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Website / forums </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'> &nbsp;&nbsp;Ok cheers I see what you mean - as in "Left Navigation Camera Non-linearized Sub-frame EDR acquired on Sol 504 of Spirit's mission to Gusev Crater at approximately 13:28:54 Mars local solar time. NASA/JPL" etc. &nbsp; <br />Posted by Smersh</DIV><br /><br />Correct; that's how I came up with the approx 39 minutes. I looked at the frames that showed (on a quick glance) the light patch and checked the first and last. I saw the first 2 were 19 seconds apart. I doubt that holds all the way through (i.e. 19 seconds each) or it would be 39 minutes, but didn't have the patience to click through all of them <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>