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Big news from Mars according to NASA


DeaconTheVillain

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looks like a shadow...

Click it, and then enlarge it.

A shadow would not have dry pebbles on it's edge. Those pebbles will also show the shadow's edge if it is a shadow being cast from a larger object. Given where the light is being cast from (Top left corner), those pebbles would show light, but not uniformly like they are. Look at the area of bright light in the lower left.. notice how the edge of the shadowing there is soft, where the edge of this other area is quite hard... also, note that because of that light, we can see that there is a sunlight source, and that the color of the soil is not that dark, because the shadows that are being cast won't have degree of depth as this sudden color change would indicate. (it would be a second shadow, in other words. that ray of sunlight shows us that most of the photo is already in shadow.)

In looking at the enlargement, it indeed looks like wet soil. .. but it might just be different colored soil. the texture of both the wet and dry areas is pretty much the same, .. and I would think undisturbed dust when made wet will lay down a bit.

~Bang

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Click it, and then enlarge it.

A shadow would not have dry pebbles on it's edge. Those pebbles will also show the shadow's edge if it is a shadow being cast from a larger object. Given where the light is being cast from (Top left corner), those pebbles would show light, but not uniformly like they are. Look at the area of bright light in the lower left.. notice how the edge of the shadowing there is soft, where the edge of this other area is quite hard... also, note that because of that light, we can see that there is a sunlight source, and that the color of the soil is not that dark, because the shadows that are being cast won't have degree of depth as this sudden color change would indicate. (it would be a second shadow, in other words. that ray of sunlight shows us that most of the photo is already in shadow.)

In looking at the enlargement, it indeed looks like wet soil. .. but it might just be different colored soil. the texture of both the wet and dry areas is pretty much the same, .. and I would think undisturbed dust when made wet will lay down a bit.

~Bang

thanks, didn't enlarge. I guess it looks like wet soil, but did they already know that water existed on Mars? Or maybe this is the first confirmed water sighting...

Either way i am excited to see what they release.

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So is it the dark patch in the upper left that is in question?

That portion certainly looks "wet" and appears to be on top of the dry soil and overlapping many pebbles and rocks. Even the texture of the soil looks like something has dripped onto it, similar to dirt under the boards of a deck or patio.

Could there be some form of condensation from the belly of the rover dripping down? From what I understand, water, if it exists on Mars, would be unstable with such a weak atmosphere.

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