RocK? Or Anomaly With Applied Shadow

[rdunk]

http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/gallery/all/1/n/4030/1N485946529EFFCNGCP1765R0M1.JPG

Rover Opportunity Nav cam photo, Sol day 4030! The "natural distance" shot is not a big deal, as the prominent black piece in the pic simply has a shadowed look - see 1st photo.

With a bit of magnification we can see more detail in the black feature, particularly an elongated above-the-ground piece at the bottom of the blackend area that projects out toward the camera. Now that piece doesn't really doesn't quite look like a rock?? And magnified, there does appear to be some sort of white structure directly behind this blackened area. Magnified, we can see some of the geometrics of the white structure too.  See 2nd photo.

What do you think

[ArMaP]

Now that piece doesn't really doesn't quite look like a rock??

Why?

What do you think

It's a rock with face pointing to the camera in the shadow. That face isn't completely flat, so we see some differences in the light reflected by it.

[rdunk]

ArMaP, can you not see the shaped piece near the bottom of this anomaly that extends out above the surface? Also, as I said, one can see the exposed structure design thru the shadow? - it exemplifies/copies the same opposite shape as that we actually can see to our right side of the darkened area.

[rdunk]

quote author=ArMaP link=topic=9632.msg127394#msg127394 date=1474586351]
Why?

Because I think most rocks do not extend outward as this length piece does - away from this "shadowed piece".

It's a rock with face pointing to the camera in the shadow. That face isn't completely flat, so we see some differences in the light reflected by it.

No, the black area is not reflecting ANYTHING!  The non black area piece at the bottom that stretches out from it is entirely different!

[ArMaP]

ArMaP, can you not see the shaped piece near the bottom of this anomaly that extends out above the surface?

It would help if you posted an image showing what you're talking about, "shaped piece" is not specific enough  for me to understand what you mean.

[rdunk]

It would help if you posted an image showing what you're talking about, "shaped piece" is not specific enough  for me to understand what you mean.

Ok...............!

[rdunk]

Another pic to outline one feature of  the possible structure behind this "shadow"...................doesn't look like a real shadow to me!!

[ArMaP]

It's not the first time I have this problem in a thread here on Pegasus, using the correct words for what I'm talking about.

In this case I think that we are seeing the side of the rock that is in the shade, having the Sun on the other side. As the Sun appears high in the sky the shadows are short.

To me, we are seeing one bigger, triangular-shaped rock, with the face facing the camera in the shade. In that face it looks like there's a slight protrusion that is getting some light, making that slightliy brighter curved line on the shaded face of the rock.  We also see a smaller rock in front of it. To the camera's right there's another rock, also with the face facing the camera in the shade, but as this rock has a flat top we can see a bright top.

We can also see the ground behind the rock, and the ground appears full of small hills, and I think that what you marked in the second photo is the protrusion in the rock and the edge of one of those small hills. The ever present JPEG artefacts do not help.

Now, as this is from the navigation camera, we have two photos, one for the right and the other for the left camera, so we can make an animated GIF to get and idea of how the scene looks in 3D.



It's a rock.

[rdunk]

It's a rock.

Not to my eye! And FWIW, I have never seen a "shaking photo" that changed anything that I am seeing. We (I) can see through that blackened 'for a shadow area", and can see the geometrics of whatever it is that is back there.

The protruding piece at the bottom does have a shadow under it!

[ArMaP]

Not to my eye! And FWIW, I have never seen a "shaking photo" that changed anything that I am seeing.

It's not suppose to change what you see, it's supposed to help you understand what you see.

We (I) can see through that blackened 'for a shadow area", and can see the geometrics of whatever it is that is back there.

Or so you think.

The protruding piece at the bottom does have a shadow under it!

The protruding part I was talking about is not at the bottom, and all rocks have a shadow under them.

[rdunk]

The protruding part I was talking about is not at the bottom, and all rocks have a shadow under them.

ArMaP, can you not see that the "protruding part" stretches out and above the ground surface, and that is why a "real shadow" is under it?

[ArMaP]

The yellow line in the image below underlines what I called the "protruding part".



It doesn't stretch "out and above the ground surface", it ends at the bottom of the rock.

[ArMaP]

As this is a relatively old photo I looked for it in the Analyst's Notebook and got the radiometrically corrected images, that look much better than the quick conversion to JPEG they publish when they get the photos, and this is what it looks like.



Rocks.

[Dyna]

Looks like a snake to me.

Like this one, actually I think this one is ropey rock.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/weird/712910/NASA-Rover-finds-snake-like-creature-on-Mars

[rdunk]

As this is a relatively old photo I looked for it in the Analyst's Notebook and got the radiometrically corrected images, that look much better than the quick conversion to JPEG they publish when they get the photos, and this is what it looks like.



Rocks.

If you notice, your "revised photo" has been lightened, and thus has removed all of the existing shadows in this photo. Sorry ArMaP, that is not what the released NASA photo presents. IMO, for what I see, there is likely no actual rock there, but rather simply a shadowed area, and something else. For sure that lower protruding piece is something solid, as it does have a shadow under it, but it does not appear to be a "rock" either.

If this were an actual rock, it would certainly be pretty much "out of character" with all else around this photo area, wouldn't it?