Mysterious "Stick" comes out and cast shadow from a flat stone. Curiosity Sol 393.

reply to post by abeverage


If you zoom in on where I have circled. Face!

I was gonna say (as usual) that it looks too indistinct to be an object that is sticking out and casting a shadow. That it looks more like a crack in the rock.

But then I looked for other Curiosity images of the same location.

Navcam Left and Right images. The rock is the bright one at right-centre:
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

And it does indeed look like there's something sticking out of the rock. It could be a mini-Hugo, a piece of hard rock exposed through erosion or other natural processes.

This cross-eye stereo image supports that it's something sticking out:


I'll post if I find more images.

reply to post by SasquatchHunter


Using your image of rocks , the bottom one rock is casting a shadow in same direction as so called stick. Thin shadow

reply to post by wildespace

Good work there. That rock looks like bedrock, while a lot of the other stuff appears to be regolith where you often see the weirder forms and shapes likely formed and reformed by the Mars weathering including moisture, best analogy is sandcastles all gently created by a feather of wind. Mars is a funny place.

reply to post by Arken


Good catch, Arken! The area at & around Darwin in recent sols is indeed interesting. As was the case at Rocknest, I also noticed some interesting layers that didn't really look like bedrock - these openings and hollow rocks with thin layers that sometimes look as if they were 'bent'. Very odd, IMO.

And this hugo-esque rock you found really makes me wish we could have some real data about what we're actually looking at. Anyhow: this is definitely another great find & I'm glad that some on here continue to keep track of what Curiosity is imaging!

Interesting, as Earth sticks are usually located in places where the sun does not shine at all...

especially in regards to those who feel they have to dampen everyone's pareidolia experience.

reply to post by Baddogma


This is the "Space Exploration" Forum. It usually requires a higher level of analysis.

Perhaps it should have been in the grey area. Even then, this one was much less entertaining than the crocodile spine.

reply to post by Arken


Its a crack in the rock?

BayesLike
reply to post by Arken

 

Looks like a flat rock with a very small ridge casting a shadow to me. The illusion of a stick is just that -- an illusion.

I agree. Look at the first photo for a minute...... let your eyes relax a bit and you will see an ' L ' shape slightly slanted. Its sort of like looking at the Chalice/faces illusion we have all seen. I too believe it falls into the 'illusion' category.

reply to post by Plotus


You should look at wildspace's post a little above yours then...

I think it's an optical illusion, I can see where it would look to some people like something is protruding up from the rock but In my opinion, it is a crack on the rocks surface. You either see a crack or something protruding up when you look at the image so Occam's razor must decide which it is.

I believe there is life on Mars, I just don't see this image as an indication of it.

reply to post by Arken


A adjusted the lighting and it appears to be just a dark mark on the rock.
See pic here

It's a rock and shadows.

See nothing sticking out. It's shadows.




He will just ignore any of these posts anyway and not respond as usual.


I wish these kinds of posts were moved to hoax instead of allowed to stay. It makes a mockery of those who truly are interested in Mars anomalies.

I am all for Mars anomalies but like i have said many times before the only one I find to be anomalous is Sol Spirit 513 in Gusev Crater...That is one interesting pic.

Definitely not a stick. Appears to be a crack most likely. Shadows match up perfectly for a crack, there is no shadow visible for it to be a stick.

OccamsRazor04
Definitely not a stick. Appears to be a crack most likely. Shadows match up perfectly for a crack, there is no shadow visible for it to be a stick.

Sorry to disagree, but this image of the same area from a different perspective, show a STICK with its own shadow and not a crack in the rock...

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Arken

OccamsRazor04
Definitely not a stick. Appears to be a crack most likely. Shadows match up perfectly for a crack, there is no shadow visible for it to be a stick.

Sorry to disagree, but this image of the same area from a different perspective, show a STICK with its own shadow and not a crack in the rock...

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

edit on 24-9-2013 by Arken because: (no reason given)

Is that even the same rock? The shape doesn't appear to be the same, and the rocks surrounding the one in the first picture appear to be missing in this picture. Assuming it's the same rock, there is something possibly sticking out in this picture, but it's clearly not a stick, it's a small piece of the rock itself. It could also just be an indentation causing the shadow rather than a protrusion. Anyone claiming that is a stick might as well say it's whatever they wish it to be, because no stick is visible in that picture. To claim a stick is visible is pure fabrication and dishonesty.

ETA: Looking at the pics again it's hard to tell due to the change in angle, but the pics could be the same

reply to post by Zarniwoop

wait! IF that is part of the "rock" as you describe it would make that part of it a wing on what could only be described as a Martian rock bird lying on its side

I'm gonna 'cop-out' on this one...

At first glance and quick visual analysis as regard to the shadows and light direction, the area of interest does appear to be something protruding from the surface of the flat-ish rock.

However, the lack of any object that could be producing the shadow on the 'stick' itself leads me to question the 'stick' hypothesis. Where is the actual object that produces the shadow? Is it a fracture in the rock that produces the shadow? Does the shadow of the 'fracture' extend beyond the surface of the flat-ish rock?

All these questions need answering and it is doubtful - given the time-management and planning methodologies used by the JPL team to instruct Curiosity - that this will be actively investigated...

Still, an interesting find, even if it is one of hundreds/thousands of similar such objects of interest found by the rovers and MSL over the years.