What's this in the Martian Sky?

Originally posted by lilblam
No one suggested that it might be a UFO.. so here it is. It might be a UFO!

umm actually I did read the posts

[Edited on 27-1-2004 by weeman]

Originally posted by weeman
i thought that only earth ahd a colored atmosphere because of the water

Actually, one of the largest reasons for the Earth's blue atmosphere is nitrogen, combined with the oxygen. This is why Neptune has a greenish-blue atmosphere, because it's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen. Mars, having a carbon dioxide atmosphere, absorbs red light better. This is why in smoggy cities (like LA) the air can appear to be a redish brown haze.

Each element absorbs and reflects certain wavelengths, which is how spectrography works. You can identify elements of objects by what light is given off when they burn.

I'm sticking with the belief it's the sun. That's a panorama shot, and captures the whole horizon. It's obviously durring the day, the rover isn't going to waste the energy using a flash. So where would the sun be if that's the whole horizon and most of the sky?

wow I never knew that, In scholl those lazy as teachers always took the easy way out and told us it was the reflection of the water that made the atmosphere blue

I remember the space shuttle going through Lancaster ca. thay had to cut t-poles down to get by

I think the original Viking pictures are of a little superior quality then what these two new rovers are showing... and they are unaltered - they show the blue sky. Mars doesn't look so red, does it? More of a tan brown.

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EDIT: Big pictures make the layout go Booooooom! Converted to links.

[Edited on 27-1-2004 by Kano]

Originally posted by weeman
wow I never knew that, In scholl those lazy as teachers always took the easy way out and told us it was the reflection of the water that made the atmosphere blue

Although it doesn't play that role in the atmosphere, the oceans (particularly the pacific) do play a fun role in something else. If you're ever looking at a crescant moon or a new moon, and can kind of see the dark half, you can know the pacific is cloud free. That's would be called Earth shine, where the sun reflects off of the Pacific Ocean and hits the moon, slightly illuminating it. I don't know if you get the same effect on the other side of the world, reflecting off of the atlantic, since it's so much smaller, but I would imagine it would still be there, just a bit darker.

in the last picture what is that canaster thing that lying on the ground

Could be a Battery or Fuel Canister from Viking 2 - or it had a "nice" landing.

weeman, you almost opened a can of worms with that question! There was another thread where it went for about 2 pages on theories on what that thing could be. Thankfully it was answered, and I'll share the answer with y'all.

The canister is launched off of the Viking Landers after they finish their discent. It was used to shield the sensors on the Viking craft durring it's descent and space journey from heat and particles. I suppose it even did that on Earth (forgot that one). In the NASA mock-ups of what the Viking would do, they had that thing sitting there, too.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

weeman and embryonic, I do believe that canister has been explained already as being part of the rover.

Now back to picture originally in question.

I am not sure about the sun theory...it just seems too small...given mars is further from the sun than earth, but I didn't think it would be that small.

Still could be the moons, satellite or even ufo like lilblam suggested...who knows...but i do want to know.

well thats great now we are litering on mars If we dont stop this now mars will be a big garbage dump

Originally posted by weeman
well thats great now we are litering on mars

If we dont stop this now mars will be a big garbage dump

Mars needs the extra minerals

Originally posted by KrazyIvan

Originally posted by TrickmastertricK
I would say the sun but who knows.

Why does the picture look like it was cut and pasted, or (doctored) I thought panoramic images were one continous image. I might be seeing things

you dont need a continus pic for a panarama. you can take more than one pic and then past them together

But wouldn't it be alot longer than it is. Because if you do break it down, it just looks like a normal picture sent back then put together. So do you know if that is what they do?(not trying to be srcastic or anything the like) or does anyone know for that matter?

Do you see what I was originally talking about?

Hmm, just read through all of NASA's press releases related to Opportunity, and they don't mention anything about it. I wonder...Does anyone have a source to gauge the time of day it is where Opportunity sits on Mars? Because if the sun is higher up, it's not the sun, it's something else, but if the sun would be near the horizon, I'd assume that's what it is.

I think the name of the picture explains it all, Sol3_mosaic_left-B003R1_br2.jpg. And what is a mosaic?

A composite picture made of overlapping, usually aerial, photographs. (2nd definition)

So, Opportunity took a couple of pictures to make a mosaic and they were all put back together by our fellow NASA boys.

why isnt their any green stuff in the pictures that you can see from the mars express

Originally posted by OXmanK
The Earth, I believe, reflects light better. Plus, we can also see Venus during the day here and it is further away than Mars.

I agree ,we can see Venus during the day, PLUS I'll bet there is NO POLLUTION on Mars, and at night, no ambient light to interfer with seeing stars/planets.

I've seen those white dots in a few pics from mars.
I think they probably are either pixil distortion or lens dirt.
They seem pretty much the same in all the pix.
I could be wrong tho, who knows fer sure?

Originally posted by NetStorm
I agree ,we can see Venus during the day, PLUS I'll bet there is NO POLLUTION on Mars, and at night, no ambient light to interfer with seeing stars/planets.

The problem with that line of thought, about the no pollution, is this: Polution on earth is generally carbon dioxide. Mars's atmosphere is carbon dioxide. Which isn't to say I'm dismissing it from being the Earth, it's possible.