This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) aboard NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover at Sun 3474 (2022-05-15 13:35:22 UTC). Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS
In August 2012, the Curiosity rover landed on Gale Crater on Mars and began exploring the surface for clues to past life. The rover made some profound discoveries during this time, including evidence that the crater was once a large lake bed and detected multiple peaks of methane. The rover has also taken pictures of various interesting terrain features, many of which went viral after sharing photos with the public. Time and time again, these photos have shown that the tradition of seeing faces or patterns on random objects (also known as pareidolia) is alive and well when it comes to Mars.
At Sol 3474 (May 15, 2022), the Curiosity rover’s Mast camera (Mastcam) made a particularly interesting image showing points protruding from the ground. The tips are likely to be material that survived the erosion of the surrounding sedimentary rock, which is consistent with other evidence from Curiosity showing how erosion and sedimentary deposits were common in Gale Crater (and still are). ). That said, the pareidolia crowd (recent from the “Doorway” hoax) is sure to have a field day with this one.
This image was taken by Mast Camera (Mastcam) aboard NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover at Sun 3474 (2022-05-15 13:35:22 UTC). On May 26, the photo began circulating after the SETI Institute tweeted about it and offered a possible explanation (i.e., sensible and rational) of how the function was formed. They explained that the ears were likely to be “cemented filings of ancient fractures in a sedimentary rock” left behind when the surrounding rock (made of softer material) eroded. There are two possible mechanisms for this.
As scientists have learned, thanks in large part to the evidence provided by Curiosity, Gale Crater was once a bed of a lake with liquid water in it. This coincided with the Noahian period (between 4,100 and 3,700 million years ago) when Mars had a denser atmosphere, a warmer atmosphere, and running water on its surface. The movement of water in Gale Crater caused the formation of sedimentary features, such as the rock layers that form the basis of Mount Sharp. Although Mars is not experiencing water erosion today, it is still experiencing huge dust storms that can erode sedimentary rocks.
However, the tweet inspired a wave of suggestions and theories about pets. One particularly interesting thing is that they could be lightning rods, the glass tubes found in the sandy regions that form when lightning strikes and cause silica sand and rock to melt. While this is a technical possibility, it is very unlikely. Although some research suggests that lightning could pass during dust storms (as a result of atmospheric particles that generate static electricity), lightning has never been observed on Mars.
In addition, the atmosphere of Mars is too thin to withstand the stress needed to generate the types of powerful lightning that cause lightning here on Earth. Finally, the fact that Curiosity found this feature would suggest that they are statistically significant, which is not supported by either observational evidence or theoretical research (which suggests that it is uncommon). In short, any lightning that could take place on Mars would be too rare and too faint to account for a feature like this.
It seems that smart money is currently likely to be caused by erosion. But this is unlikely to deter a current of speculation and crazy ideas. It is essentially a permanent tradition when it comes to Mars. Examples go back to Schiaparelli’s “Canali” features, the Viking 1 orbit image of the “Mars face”, the “humanoid”, the “wooden plank”, the “Jelly Donut”, the “dinosaur skull” and the many, many other cases where people saw things that weren’t there.
Perseverance has a pet rock provided by Universe Today
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