eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on Apr 16, 2014 11:43:32 GMT -5
 Curiosity took a several pictures with very bright points on the surface. www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/mars-kimberley-20140408/Nasa says that a cosmic ray hitting the camera's light detector, might be one of the explanations. I think that it’s not a plausible explanation. On the image taken by the left lens, the bright spot is not visible because if you try to see it from the angle of view of the left lens, the bright spot is hidden by the terrain topology. Only the right lens can see it. The two green dots represent two points of reference visible near the bright spot (2 small outgrowths on the edge of the rift) -> the distance between these green dots and the bright spot is constant on both right and left lens and allows the determination of the theoretical position of the bright spot on the left lens camera view. |
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Post by Marsrocks on Apr 16, 2014 12:14:28 GMT -5
It looks like you are correct. The light was seen in the same location on two different days from the right camera - so it appears the left camera is blocked and this light likely is emanating or reflecting off the surface just as it appears to be. The right-eye camera of the stereo Navcam recorded this frame during the afternoon of the 589th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (April 3, 2014), from the site where the rover reached a waypoint called "the Kimberley" by that sol's drive. An image taken by the Navcam's left-eye camera within one second of the same time (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_449790582EDR_F0310000NCAM00262M_&s=589) does not include a bright spot of this type. A pair of Navcam images in the same direction from the previous afternoon has a bright spot similarly located in the right-eye image (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NRB_449700848EDR_F0301254NCAM00252M_&s=588) but not in the left-eye image (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_449700848EDR_F0301254NCAM00252M_&s=588). www.nasa.gov/jpl/msl/pia18077-20140408/#.U064RqK4jUsSomeone may want to do an image comparison of these right images to see just how close to the same spot we see the light point. |
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Post by Marsrocks on Apr 16, 2014 12:20:23 GMT -5
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eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on Apr 16, 2014 12:25:45 GMT -5
I would say that if it's a reflection, it might not appear in both lens, because a reflection is a tiny ray of sun that might be too narrow to reach both lens at the same time.
It is also the case when you are blinded by someones watch's glass reflection, it's enough to move slightly your head to avoid having your eye in the path of the ray of light. So if the ray is narrow, and the lens are separated by a significant distance, this phenomenon may occur.
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Post by Marsrocks on Apr 16, 2014 12:36:32 GMT -5
These animations compare the lightspots on two different days (both from the right camera):    The rover has dramatically changed its angle of view, so this could be the same phenomenon viewed in both photos. |
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Post by Marsrocks on Apr 16, 2014 12:48:16 GMT -5
Cuts and enlargements:    Previous day:    I think this is physically there - I hope they continue to explore in that direction. Note how this light appears exactly where the dark ground is divided by the lighter gray mountain background. |
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eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on Apr 16, 2014 20:09:10 GMT -5
If we take the assumption that the bright spot was on the same place on both days, can we say that as it was present on two different moments of the day (09:04 and 10:00), it can’t be reflection of the sun on a bright rock but a source emitting it’s own light ?
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Post by Marsrocks on Apr 17, 2014 9:52:59 GMT -5
Eric, that's an interesting thought, but I think the two pics may be too close to the same time of day to say that. The rover team could take a night picture of it if they wanted.
What may be available out there would be some satellite thermal images of the landscape at this location - themis is likely taking shots of it, if anyone wants to dig those up to look for extreme white or black pixel spikes, and compare those to the rover map of this location.
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eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on Apr 19, 2014 5:17:13 GMT -5
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Post by thewatcher on Apr 30, 2014 16:45:24 GMT -5
All images are from the right cam. Check left cam. Mast cam shoots in stereo. You'll notice no anomaly at those given moments.
Conclusion:: if anomaly not appearing on left cam then glitch is local. CCD chip or particle strike. Sun low on all shots so could be also lens contaminant. No stereo anomaly equates to it not being out there.
Cheers
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Post by Marsrocks on May 1, 2014 10:04:24 GMT -5
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eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on May 2, 2014 11:09:47 GMT -5
Very interesting, thanks
I wonder if there is a relation between these bright spots and the one floating above the surface that I described in a previous thread.
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Post by Marsrocks on May 2, 2014 12:21:38 GMT -5
Eric, I don't think the spots on the image in the other thread are related to this one, as those were introduced by putting two images together, and are likely not present in the raw image - though we could check. These are present on the raw image. However, there are a number of similar spots brought up in the ATS threads. Here is one just put up by Streetcap1 on youtube from sol 506. I believe this is related, as again we see it in the right navcam: mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00506/opgs/edr/ncam/NRB_442417645EDR_F0250242NCAM00280M_.JPGBut it does not appear in the left navcam shot taken during the same second (approximately simultaneously): mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl-raw-images/proj/msl/redops/ods/surface/sol/00506/opgs/edr/ncam/NLB_442417645EDR_F0250242NCAM00280M_.JPGIn fact there are two defects - one lighter than the first - and they both appear on the dividing line between darker and lighter areas on the horizon:    Right - left animation:  That these are occurring in the right navcam and not the left navcam leads me to believe the watcher is correct, and this is purely a local camera defect. That is, there is a right navcam camera defect likely causing this - such as a lens contaminant as the watcher considered, or a defect letting a bit of light into the camera housing, or something else related specifically to processing of the right navcam shots. I do not think it is a CCD defect, as the defects are not occurring at the same pixel locations. Proton particle strikes ("cosmic rays") striking the CCDs still can't be ruled out as the cause, as particle strikes are occurring about once per week on the various Curiosity shots. These particle strikes are more common on Mars than on Earth because Mars lacks the quality of magnetic and atmospheric protection we have on Earth. I still think this is amazingly coincidental that so many defects are occurring on the dark/light horizontal lines, so this is something interesting to watch. |
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eric44
Anomaly Finder
Posts: 53
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Post by eric44 on May 5, 2014 13:44:28 GMT -5
Very cool, I didn’t know that one.
But if the bright spot doesn’t appear in both navcams, I could also mean that the ray of light emitted by the reflection of the sun or the light source is so narrow that it can’t cover both navcams at the same time. Like when you are blinded by the reflection of the sun on somebody’s watch, it only involves one eye at the time.
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Post by thewatcher on May 22, 2014 16:23:31 GMT -5
Lol . Sorry guys but utter nonsense . Stereo vision. Check time stamps on each left right image . It's not there. ;)!
It's in the mastcam not on the horizon. And particle strikes can affect CCD chip. Not wanting to get into a pissing contest but I have worked on vision systems for robotic platforms in nuclear power plants. These strikes appear.... Even Cassini probe picks them up, whizzing by her cameras. NASAs not hiding anything, I assure you. But I understand the need for it to be something else. In this case wants can't override logical facts.
Cheers
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