Unusual looking object on Mars photo

Looking at this week's HiRISE release I noticed an object (most probably just a rock) that looks a little unusual and out of place.

This is what it looks like on the original HiRISE image.


This is after applying a "wavelet sharpening" in IAS Viewer.


And these are the same from the false colour version.




Location of that area in the full photo.


Zoom of the red rectangle area from the above image with the location of the first image marked in red. The strange rock is visible as a small dark point in the middle of the rectangle.


As I am one of those the "only sees rocks" I thought of asking other people's opinion.

Does anyone have any idea why that rock looks like that?

Or does anyone have any other theory to explain it?

PS: I haven't called it an "anomaly" because I don't know if it is normal or abnormal.


Edited to add the source, I forgot about it.

Source:
Ridges in Huo Hsing Vallis (PSP_008189_2080)

[edit on 23/5/2008 by ArMaP]

Higher resolution would help of course, but without knowing scale it looks to me like an object that became inserted in another environment. I would expect it to be incorporated into the land forms around it to a greater extant than in the photos. the line between the object and the ground appears fairly straight.

Looks like a rock in the wrong place.

reply to post by stikkinikki


That's what I thought, it looks natural but out of place.

The scale is 28.4 cm per pixel, so a length of around 29 pixels would translate to a real length of some 8 metres.

I have found some more rocks like that.

This one is near the first one, to the northeast.


These two are to the west of the first rock, near the left edge of the photo.



All these rocks show an apparent erosion different from the erosion of the other rocks, they look like they were eroded by a liquid instead of just by the wind.

As they say on the page for this photo that the whole area looks to have been submitted to erosion by flowing water, wind or both, I think that may be the reason for these rocks to look like that.

Hi, ArMaP, thank you for posting this image. I think this area of the image (towards the bottom of it) looks especially interesting. Can you provide us with a good zoomed in version of the dark area I have circled? There seems to be a strange feature there.

It reminds me of rocks, here on Earth, that have been moved by glaciers or a high volume of fast moving water. For instance an ancient Glacial Lake Missoula in Montana caused a huge flood when it's glacial dam broke moving large rocks as far as Oregon. There is other evidence from this event as the massive amount of moving water dramatically changed the landscape in 4 states.

[edit on 5/24/2008 by Devino]

reply to post by ziggystar60


Sure.

This is the same area at 6.2% zoom.


This is at 25% zoom.


And this is a link to a 100% zoom image, it is too big to post.

reply to post by ArMaP


Thank you, ArMap! You are the wizard of images, as always.

I have circled a couple of areas in the image which I find interesting.

oh yeah! great! you found another rock!...good eye!

reply to post by ziggystar60


What do you find interesting in those areas?

Looks really similar to the photos posted for the Viking landers.

Let me see if I can find the photos I was looking at earlier today.

www.nasa.gov...

NOT the same thing, but it does have the same appearance doesn't it?

Interesting.

[edit on 5/24/2008 by Montana]

reply to post by blimpseeker


Yes, I know, I am good!
I suppose you couldn't find a 8 metres rock on Mars!

Joking aside, did you read my post? What I find strange is the way it looks and the place where it is, not the fact that there is a rock on Mars.

The way it looks because it looks too polished, not like most rocks that I have seen (and I have seen some, I have 1225 images from HiRISE).

The place is also a bit unusual, there aren't any near outcrops that could have been the origin of that rock (like the ones on that area in whichziggystar60 is interested), at least that I have noticed.

I know this may sound a little strange to you, but some people are really interested in rocks, even common rocks from the Earth, so it's normal they find interesting the rocks on Mars.

Oh, and I said "object" because I don't really know if that is a rock, although I am convinced that this is the case.

ArMaP, I like the detail you get out of these images, what program do you use?

I want to point out what looks like a land slide in the image link you posted.

Originally posted by ArMaP And this is a link to a 100% zoom image, it is too big to post.

Since I lack proficiency and time to edit/post your image circling the area I'm referring to I'll just have to make due. When I zoom in on the area to the right of the upper outcropping of rocks and just below the little crater I see what looks like a slide, the dirt appears disturbed, and you can follow the tracks of a tumbling rock that rolls on for quite a stretch. There is another set of similar tracks a bit lower in that same area but this is just a product of my human imagination that is seeing land slides and tumbling rocks leaving tracks. I suppose it could be worse.

reply to post by Montana


Although the lander and the shell are too small in those photos they do look somewhat similar.

Maybe that rock is just more reflective than the common rocks, but what got me interested in it is its polished look, it looks like a pebble instead of a 8 metres rock on a desert.

Interesting find Armap, thanks for posting it! I agree with you, it does look like a natural formation, but where did it fall from? There is nothing near the area to indicate rocks falling, so maybe it was eroded like this?

Originally posted by Devino
ArMaP, I like the detail you get out of these images, what program do you use?

The detail is already there, I don't do anything to the images (unless when I say so), what I do is use the full JPEG2000 images and IAS Viewer, a Java program available on the bottom left of this page.

HiRISE images are huge, so the images that we can see on the site are just very small versions or cropped areas of the original image.

This image, for example, in its lossless compression version, is a huge 1430.3 MB, 34179 x 92974 pixels, that is why there is so much detail.

I want to point out what looks like a land slide in the image link you posted.

Do you means this?

Yes, it looks like a rock rolled from that outcropping, and it looks like another boulder track on the bottom of the image, but without any boulder at the end, was that the one you were talking about?

There is another set of similar tracks a bit lower in that same area but this is just a product of my human imagination that is seeing land slides and tumbling rocks leaving tracks.

There are many photos of tracks made by rolling boulders, there is nothing wrong in seeing these, it only shows that you are paying attention to the image.

The bottom "track" does not look like a real boulder track, I don't know what it could be, it looks like some kind of liquid made that marking.

reply to post by ArMaP

Nice find ArMap>> This is like finding a boulder in the middle of the Sahara people would ask themselves "what is it doing there? As for what rocks are and the interest in them by many including myself I would answer that it must be the Geologist in me here on earth or on any other planet. To bad for the rest who have no curiousity or interest in scientifict scrutiny.

S&F>>angelc01

[edit on 25-5-2008 by angelc01]

Originally posted by ArMaP what I do is use the full JPEG2000 images and IAS Viewer

Thanks for the link, I browsed the site a little some time ago but never downloaded any of their viewers.

As for the slide, yes I think you got it.

Do you means this?

Yes, it looks like a rock rolled from that outcropping, and it looks like another boulder track on the bottom of the image, but without any boulder at the end, was that the one you were talking about?

Yes, I think we're talking about the same two sets of boulder tracks. If you follow the tracks back to their starting point it looks like they have been covered by dirt from land slides.

The bottom "track" does not look like a real boulder track, I don't know what it could be, it looks like some kind of liquid made that marking.

That bottom track does look goofy, at first I didn't think it was a track, but it is definitely interesting.

Hey ArMaP,



To me it looks like some water deposited it there..

But it's probably a huge rock that tumbled from a spot just to the "north."

This would be a awesome thread for a rockhound.But they are rocks,im still waiting for someone to bring something really interesting on here.

Originally posted by alienstar
This would be a awesome thread for a rockhound.But they are rocks,im still waiting for someone to bring something really interesting on here.

I think the problem is the limitations of these images or any other pictures or video. How do most people describe what is meant by 'really interesting' or 'the smoking gun' ? Is there such a thing as a picture or video, 'the smoking gun', that can prove without a doubt that NASA lied--ET's are real or there is a spirit world--consciousness is extra-dimensional? For that matter the problem is not confined to pictures, our very own real life experiences have the same limitations. --Limitations, however, can be overcome.