‘Blueberry’ Triplets Born in Rock
Caption:
This microscopic image, taken at the outcrop region dubbed "Berry Bowl" near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, shows the sphere-like grains or "blueberries" that fill Berry Bowl. Of particular interest is the blueberry triplet, which indicates that these geologic features grew in pre-existing wet sediments. Other sphere-like grains that form in the air, such as impact spherules or ejected volcanic material called lapilli, are unlikely to fuse along a line and form triplets. This image was taken by the rover's microscopic imager on the 46th martian day, or sol, of its mission.
Cataloging Keywords:
Name |
Value |
Additional Values |
Target |
Mars |
|
System |
|
|
Target Type |
Planet |
|
Mission |
Mars Exploration Rover (MER) |
|
Instrument Host |
Opportunity (MER-B) |
|
Host Type |
Rover |
|
Instrument |
Microscopic Imager (MI) |
|
Detector |
|
|
Extra Keywords |
Grayscale, Impact, Volcano |
Acquisition Date |
|
Release Date |
2004-03-18 |
Date in Caption |
|
|
Image Credit |
NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS |
Source |
photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05586 |
Identifier |
PIA05586 |