At 23:00:57 UTC Mastcam Left captured beautiful photos of the inner rim of Gale Crater.From the blue sky to the greenish hills to the reddish ground in the foreground. Mars has recently passed the aphelion, which is the coldest period of the Martian year and probably also the period when the air is more transparent.We will see in a few months, when the ground temperature exceeds 0 ° C, how it will decrease the visibility of the hills in the distance due to increased haze; in the meantime let’s enjoy this beautiful landscape.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo has undergone a reduction of noise 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02612/mcam/2612ML0137300001000293C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 20:46:48 UTC the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) captured this close-up detail of a rock with interesting color characteristics.The photo was taken from a distance of 16.89 cm with a definition of 0.067 mm/pixel, thus covering an area of 10.74 cm X 7.97 cm.Rock formed mainly of conglomerates and chalk veins, indicating a sedimentary origin in an aqueous environment.If we exclude the areas covered by the typical reddish powder, the rock appears to be of a rather pale bluish color, tinged here and there by blue spots without a particular morphological correlation.It seems logical to deduce that the more intense blue spots are surface features of the rock, as much as the more reddish areas are due to the deposited dust.But then what creates the blue patches?To show colors more similar to what the human eye would see, I subjected the image to noise reduction due to Jpeg compression, white balance, and a slight increase in microcontrast and color saturation. Original image: https://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02611/mhli/2611MH0007990011000463C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 21:52:53 UTC Mastcam Left captured these rocks with an incredibly complex surface and not at all eroded!Another example of rocks that should have had an extremely smooth surface and instead show a very high level of roughness, with almost “cauliflower” structures, as if they had been encrusted by something grown on their surfaces.Also note the streaks of color present on the ground, with the well-known blue-greenish colorations, also present in part on the rocks themselves.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02609/mcam/2609ML0137150021000125C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 19:11:13 UTC Mastcam Right captured this beautiful ridge formed by stratified rocks rich in conglomerates of various sizes and shapes, against the background of a beautiful blue sky.Note the difference in color between the top and bottom of this small hill; it is clear that the reddish coloration of the top is mostly due to deposited dust.Also note the detail visible in the lower left quadrant; you seem to notice relatively deep and wide cavities.Beware, as the richness of detail is such that it encourages misleading interpretations!The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02606/mcam/2606MR0136880071102088C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 18:57:30 UTC the Mastcam Right captured this truly unique rock!Also this rock should be strongly eroded, instead it shows a crazy complexity of detail with very strange perfectly orthogonal intersections.I would really like to hear the opinion of a geologist who can explain to me how such morphologies can form; what geological phenomenon can create such a shape?The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02606/mcam/2606MR0136870061102048C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 20:48:36 UTC Mastcam Left captured this decidedly blue-greenish patch of terrain and rocks with incredible richness of detail.These rocks should be heavily eroded and instead show a mind-blowing complexity of detail. I recommend looking at this photo in detail, perhaps downloading it, so you can better zoom in on the various details and fully appreciate them.The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo has undergone a reduction of noise 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02604/mcam/2604ML0136840130208311C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 19:56:17 UTC Mastcam Left captured this decidedly greenish portion of the terrain!In this case, the rocks seem to be sparsely affected by the greenish coloration, while the ground goes from brown to turquoise with areas that are also yellowish and green.If we analyze this photo closely, we can see that the greenish material is only present on the surface of this small dune and is not an integral part of the soil that constitutes it. If confirmed, this aspect would indicate that the material producing this coloration is of very recent formation, perhaps even less than a year!In fact, (red) sandstorms and wind erosion should remove and/or cover said material in a very short time.Is this therefore a clear indication in favor of the presence of biological activity on Mars?The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02602/mcam/2602ML0136760040208244C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 11:52:35 UTC Mastcam Right captured these beautiful little hills here and there tinged with greenish spots and a clear blue sky.You can see an abundance of these greenish spots just about everywhere, on the rocks as well as on the sand. In particular, if you look at the slabs of rock visible in the background at the top right, you will notice how these spots can have blurred outlines without affecting the entire rock.This fact clearly indicates that the material that determines the greenish coloration must be present only on the surface of the rock and it is not an integral part of the composition of the rock itself.Obviously, the final confirmation will be had only when the technicians of Curiosity deign to use the rotating wire brush to “clean” one of these rocks thus ascertaining the actual color of the rock below.Awaiting such verification, we remain only in the field of supposition; it is simple mineral deposits or some kind of lichen?The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02597/mcam/2597MR0136540351100868C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.

At 11:47:35 UTC Mastcam Right captured this beautiful layered knoll with a clear blue sky.A nice variety of colors, from reddish rocks to rocks tending to blue, from lighter to darker.Curiosity is analyzing more and more closely this rock formation that from a distance showed interesting variations in color and albedo.I hope to be able to document these color variations also with closer photos like this one…The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has been converted to color through a process called “debayering” or “demosaicing”. In addition, the photo 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.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/msss/02597/mcam/2597MR0136540191100852C00_DXXX.jpg This post has been automatically translated. See the original post here.