The Planet Mars

Marco De Marco's journey across the Martian landscape, exploring the geology and atmosphere of our neighbor.

544 Research Posts
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Clouds on Mars!

Clouds on Mars!

A nice collection of clouds photographed by Curiosity, so much for the barren planet, in this nice article from NASA: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-curiosity-rover-captures-shining-clouds-on-mars...
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Perseverance Sol 91, May 23, 2021

Perseverance Sol 91, May 23, 2021

At 15:55:30 LMST the Rear Left Hazcam recorded again an incredible Martian rainbow extended from side to side.If in the photo of Sol 43 it was vaguely questionable the possibility of a reflection of sunlight entering in a grazing way between the camera lenses (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/photos/3810030972413401), in this case this possibility is categorically excluded!As you can see from the direction of the shadows, here the sunlight comes from behind the camera, thus totally excluding the possibility that it could have illuminated the lens of the camera itself that here instead were in shadow!So, if it is definitely not a reflection of the Sun between the lenses, what generates these rainbows on Mars?What is special in this crater to generate recurrent rainbows, never observed before by other rovers and landers?The original image has undergone noise reduction due to compression, white balance and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation in order to make the colors more similar to what the human eye would see.Original image: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/RLF_0091_0675031555_386ECM_N0040136RHAZ02002_01_295J...
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Why is the shadow of Ingenuity's propellers so sharp?

A shadow, not only on the Martian soil, but also a shadow on the credibility of the data NASA is providing about it. With propellers that should be spinning at fantastic speeds to compensate for the rarefaction of the tenuous Martian atmosphere, how is it possible to take photos where the propellers themselves appear as sharp as if they were stationary?Source: https://www.ilpianetamarte.org/Files/Perche_l_ombra_delle_eliche_di_Ingenuity_e_cosi_nitida/Perche_l_ombra_delle_eliche_di_Ingenuity_e_cosi_nitida.php...
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Why is the shadow of Ingenuity's propellers so sharp?

A shadow, not only on the Martian soil, but also a shadow on the credibility of the data NASA is providing about it. With propellers that are supposed to be spinning at fantastic speeds to compensate for the rarefaction of the tenuous Martian atmosphere, how is it possible to take photos where the propellers themselves appear as sharp as if they were stationary?Full article: https://www.ilpianetamarte.org/Files/Perche_l_ombra_delle_eliche_di_Ingenuity_e_cosi_nitida/Perche_l_ombra_delle_eliche_di_Ingenuity_e_cosi_nitida.php...
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China releases the first images of Tianwen-1

China releases the first images of Tianwen-1

http://www.cnsa.gov.cn/english/n6465652/n6465653/c6812028/content.html...
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Consulting the Surface Data...