Airborne Object in Martian Sky - NASA Photo

[rdunk]

Well, anytime we see something in the Martian sky that is clearly not a cloud, then we begin to wonder......WHAT IS IT!!

I have found such an object in a recent Rover Curiosity photo. Size and shape is not readily discernible, but it does kinda stick out like a sore thumb there in the photo, once you see it.

I have taken 2 screenshots of it, one a little more magnified than the other, that I am posting below. In addition, I am posting a 3rd photo from a different same day NASA photo Also below are the direct links to the NASA photos.

I suppose a question could be, is this object in the sky, or is it on a sandhill in the background of the photos??

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=1441MR0071280250702892E01_DXXX&s=1441

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=1441MR0071280230702890E01_DXXX&s=1441

[rdunk]

FWIW - Here is another screenshot of a different pic of the airborne object from Sol day 1439 - the OP pics are from Sol day 1441. For an object to be there like this on different Sol days brings into question even more "what is it"? Maybe it is a rock in a sandbank, or someone or something could be continually monitoring Rover Curiosity activity??

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/01439/mcam/1439MR0071160140702838E01_DXXX.jpg

[Pimander]

Have you eliminated something on the camera?

[ArMaP]

It's something on the camera, it appears in the exact same position in all photos.

[rdunk]

Have you eliminated something on the camera?

No, the possibility of a "camera/pic" problem being the most obvious possibility, I just didn't mention it.

[Pimander]

It's something on the camera, it appears in the exact same position in all photos.

There is the famous saying: "Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth." ~ Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes)

I think it often should be: "Once you eliminate the unlikely, whatever remains, no matter how likely, is normally the truth."


Damn it, I was hoping this one was an insect crawling on the lens!

[ArMaP]

Damn it, I was hoping this one was an insect crawling on the lens!

It can still be a dead insect on the lens.