Is it a coral? Is it a flower? Wrong: It’s a tiny mineral formation on the red planet.
The space photo of the week is a nice shot from Mars rover Curiosity. The rover spotted coral on the red planet late last month. In reality, we are looking at a tiny mineral formation here.
It’s not the first time these structures have been found on Mars. Planetary scientist Abigail Fraeman of the Mars Curiosity team shared photos of similar formations on Pahrump Hills at the foot of Mount Aeolis Mons. Here are the formations made of sulfates.
Not only the coral, but also the two spheres on the right are mineral formations. These seem very large, but appearances can be deceiving. The coral is smaller than an American penny (one cent). A penny is a fraction larger than a one euro cent coin. Below is a comparison.
Curiosity’s magnifying glass in action
The photo was taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager aboard Curiosity. This camera is located on the end of its robotic arm. The camera can best be compared to a geologist’s magnifying glass. The rover can take close-ups of sand grains, rock textures and – in this case – mineral structures.
Exploring time capsule on Mars
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater in August 2012 and has uncovered many of the secrets of this crater in recent years. For example, the rover has found strong indications that the crater was filled with water in the past. This explains why mineral formations have now also been found. At the heart of the crater is Mount Aeolis Mons, or Mount Sharp. This mountain is made up of deposited sediments and actually forms a time capsule: each layer tells something about a different period in the history of Mars. Curiosity is currently conducting a thorough investigation of this mountain. It is hoped that this will teach us much about the Red Planet’s past.