UFO on Martian Sky - Curiosity's Sol 474

Hello ATS,

Some interesting object appeared in Mastcam field of view when Curiosity was in process of capturing one of Martian's moon yesterday.
I am not familiar which moon is on images, it's either Phobos or Deimos, so I'll reference them only as moon.
Images are in chronological order.

Pic No.1 (moon on right Mastcam)
Mastcam: Right 2013-12-06 13:01:22 UTC


Pic No.2 (moon on left Mastcam)
Mastcam: Left 2013-12-06 13:01:23 UTC


Pic No.3 (UFO on left Mastcam)
Mastcam: Left 2013-12-06 13:01:59 UTC



Pic No.4 (UFO on right Mastcam with moon on the right side of the image)
Mastcam: Right 2013-12-06 13:01:59 UTC


What is that?

NASA source images:
Pic No.1
Pic No.2
Pic No.3
Pic No.4

looks squared off doesn't it, I doubt that curiosity is polar aligned, hence the streaking of , what ide say is a 15 second exposure at iso maybe 400.. you will notice a lot of red speckling in the second two picture, caused by increasing the cameras sensor sensitivity(iso)

funBox

It's certainly the same irregular shape in both cameras, that's not often seen, at the same time its very bright, blurred or otherwise. Maybe a part of Ison was captured in the earlier bypass, and somehow not seen until now.

Or, it could be another moon.

reply to post by zilebeliveunknown


Elongated Moon due to exposure time that would also explain the overexposure of the object!

I didn't know Mars had Chinese lanterns. Sorry. Couldn't resist.

No doubt about it. It's a monolith.

It's Phobos in every image.

The elongated over exposed images are time lapses.

I'd have to agree with you guys. It's the moon.
Again, sloppy work coming from MSL scientists.
When will they learn to properly use the equipment they made? Is it that hard?

funbox

looks squared off doesn't it, I doubt that curiosity is polar aligned, hence the streaking of , what ide say is a 15 second exposure at iso maybe 400.. you will notice a lot of red speckling in the second two picture, caused by increasing the cameras sensor sensitivity(iso)

funBox

Just thinking again on what you say. If the primary target for the picture is a Moon, that should have been a 'quicky' Given that, another Mars Moon picture is not then the reason for the motion blur, there must be a reason for a longer exposure. So, if the bright object is a Moon, then there must be something else in the picture that is the focus of attention, however I see now't. Mar's Rotational movement is much the same as Earth's, a little slower at 24hrs and 39mins whatever, and if they wanted to get a good picture of a Moon all the parameters are known, including any pre-programming needed for a good result.

Double post, not by me, Funky Gremlins at work..again.

JadeStar
It's Phobos in every image.

The elongated over exposed images are time lapses.

Agree it is the same Moon and over exsposed to be sure, I don't think it could be called time lapse in either single frame picture taken simultaneously though.

reply to post by smurfy


maybe they wanted to get the stars in but i imagine its some kind of exposure bracketing, heres one of my screw-ups at m42 , the trapezium has merged together and the stars are streaking pretty bad, over exposure and red grain are partying like its 1999.



funBox

I agree, the formation looks like it is just one of the Martian moons.

Zip Monster