Mystery Spheres on Mars

[zorgon]

Mystery Spheres on Mars

Well we have heard of the new mystery that Curiosity is supposed to reveal, but until those bozo's at NASA get their facts straight, lets look at another one that slipped by.  Got this via my NASA press release feed  just now... but the article is dated Sept. 14, 2012

Sept. 14, 2012:  NASA's long-lived rover Opportunity has returned an image of the Martian surface that is puzzling researchers.

Spherical objects concentrated at an outcrop called Kirkwood on the western rim of Endeavour Crater differ in several ways from iron-rich spherules nicknamed "blueberries" the rover found at its landing site in early 2004.

"This is one of the most extraordinary pictures from the whole mission," said Opportunity's principal investigator, Steve Squyres of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "Kirkwood is chock full of a dense accumulation of these small spherical objects. Of course, we immediately thought of the blueberries, but this is something different. We never have seen such a dense accumulation of spherules in a rock outcrop on Mars."

Full size image here

Puzzling Little Martian Spheres That Don't Taste Like 'Blueberries'

Small spherical objects fill the field in this mosaic combining four images from the Microscopic Imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The view covers an area about 2.4 inches (6 centimeters) across, at an outcrop called "Kirkwood" in the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The individual spherules are up to about one-eighth inch (3 millimeters) in diameter.

The Microscopic Imager took the component images during the 3,064th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (Sept. 6, 2012). For a color view of the Kirkwood outcrop as Opportunity was approaching it two weeks earlier, see PIA16128 .

Opportunity discovered spherules at its landing site more than eight-and-a-half years earlier. Those spherules were nicknamed "blueberries." They provided important evidence about long-ago wet environmental conditions on Mars because researchers using Opportunity's science instruments identified them as concretions rich in the mineral hematite deposited by water saturating the bedrock. A picture of the "blueberries" from the same Microscopic Imager is PIA05564 .

The spherules at Kirkwood do not have the iron-rich composition of the blueberries. They also differ in concentration, distribution and structure. Some of the spherules in this image have been partially eroded away, revealing concentric internal structure. Opportunity's science team plans to use the rover for further investigation of these spherules to determine what evidence they can provide about ancient Martian environmental conditions.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./ USGS/Modesto Junior College

The spheres measure as much as one-eighth of an inch (3 millimeters) in diameter. The analysis is still preliminary, but it indicates that these spheres do not have the high iron content of Martian blueberries.

The Martian blueberries found elsewhere by Opportunity are concretions formed by action of mineral-laden water inside rocks, evidence of a wet environment on early Mars. Concretions result when minerals precipitate out of water to become hard masses inside sedimentary rocks. Many of the Kirkwood spheres are broken and eroded by the wind. Where wind has partially etched them away, a concentric structure is evident.

Opportunity used the microscopic imager on its arm to look closely at Kirkwood. Researchers checked the spheres' composition by using an instrument called the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer on Opportunity's arm.

"They seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle," Squyres said. "They are different in concentration. They are different in structure. They are different in composition. They are different in distribution. So, we have a wonderful geological puzzle in front of us. We have multiple working hypotheses, and we have no favorite hypothesis at this time. It's going to take a while to work this out, so the thing to do now is keep an open mind and let the rocks do the talking."

Just past Kirkwood lies another science target area for Opportunity. The location is an extensive pale-toned outcrop in an area of Cape York where observations from orbit have detected signs of clay minerals. That may be the rover's next study site after Kirkwood. Four years ago, Opportunity departed Victoria Crater, which it had investigated for two years, to reach different types of geological evidence at the rim of the much larger Endeavour Crater.

The rover's energy levels are favorable for the investigations. Spring equinox comes this month to Mars' southern hemisphere, so the amount of sunshine for solar power will continue increasing for months.  Indeed, Opportunity is on the verge of completing the first Martian Marathon.

"The rover is in very good health considering its 8-1/2 years of hard work on the surface of Mars," said Mars Exploration Rover Project Manager John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "Energy production levels are comparable to what they were a full Martian year ago, and we are looking forward to productive spring and summer seasons of exploration."

Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

Mystery Spheres on Mars

"They seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle," Squyres said.

[zorgon]

Couple of closeups so far...



Some odd fibers and not sure what the white flash is, but the outer shell does seem reflective as you can see the sun glinting off some of them

[Littleenki]

Not rocks..fossils perhaps?

Seems they have certain innards?

Whats your take on their similarity to these, Zorgon...


http://www.falw.vu/~smit/mexico/lajilla.htm

[spacemaverick]

Just looking at the items above Zorgon, they look like gas bubbled up and hardened.  Just my layman's look.  But who am I to say?

[ArMaP]

Got this via my NASA press release feed  just now... but the article is dated Sept. 14, 2012

That's why Littleenki made a thread about it in September.

[Littleenki]

That's why Littleenki made a thread about it in September.

Bazinga! LOL! I still think theyre the same deposits I posted a picture of up there...clear evidence of surface water on Mars at one time.

[zorgon]

That's why Littleenki made a thread about it in September.

Mars has balls? 

Don't know how I missed that



So there should be more pics in the set right?

[zorgon]

I still think theyre the same deposits I posted a picture of up there...clear evidence of surface water on Mars at one time.

I agree. The Blueberries are also proof of water as they are formed (IF they are hematite concretions) by water. The darn things are all over the place and the rock they are in is sedimentary... looks just like the same 'balls' in Utah

But these ones do look more like fossils.  I don't think they are 'hardened gas bubbles' because they do have internal structure





Going to find the date they posted these and see if there are others in the series. They must have more than the one press release picture

[zorgon]

Microscopic Imager Sol 3064  87 images





Microscopic Imager :: Sol 3064 (87 images)

[Littleenki]

 
Some of those internal parts look like fossilized organs.....

[zorgon]

Not rocks..fossils perhaps?

Seems they have certain innards?

Whats your take on their similarity to these, Zorgon...


http://www.falw.vu/~smit/mexico/lajilla.htm

Those are good... calcite deposits into basalt bubbles and there is a LOT of amygdaloidal basalt on Mars... but even the NASA scientist is saying they are spheres that are broken open and the reflection on some shows they are a hard shell object weathering out of the rock. That would not be the case with basalt bubbles

[Pimander]

"They seem to be crunchy on the outside, and softer in the middle," Squyres said.

Maltesers! 

[zorgon]

No Malt Balls are crunchy on the INSIDE and soft on the OUTSIDE...

DO try to get your facts straight

But Malt balls would go good with Blue berries on NASA's plate. Maybe that rubber chicken eats those

[Shasta56]

Malt balls, blueberries, and rubbet chicken.  That's quite a menu.  I hope you don't plan on opening a restaurant.

Shasta