At 09:17:36 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this very close detail of the Martian sand.
The photo was taken from a distance of only 2.64 cm with a definition of 0.017 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 2.64 cm X 1.96 cm.
The largest grains measure about 0.7 mm, while averaging between 0.2 mm and 0.3 mm.
Most of them, especially the smaller ones, show a smooth and distinctly spheroidal appearance, while the larger ones have more irregular shapes.
The original image has undergone noise reduction due to Jpeg 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/msl-raw-images/msss/02993/mhli/2993MH0007940010504840C00_DXXX.jpg
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