Wednesday, December 23, 2009

What is the lighted object in the horizon of mars in the first phoenix pics?

I don't see any lighted object on the horizon in any of the Phoenix pictures. I do know that the Mars rover Opportunity found its own heat shield laying on the ground, and it looked like a bright object on the horizon in some of the first pictures from far away, but I don't see anything like that in the Phoenix pictures.





(EDIT) OK, I see the spot you are talking about. It looks a bit like an image defect to me, be we will see when they take more images of the same location later. It *could* be the heat shield, but since this is not a rover, it can't go over there for a close look.





(2nd EDIT) I see they have located the heat shield and parachute from orbit. See the second source. Assuming that this overhead picture is oriented as usual, with North toward the top, then these objects are south of the lander. But that doesn't seem to be the right direction to correspond with the bright object in the distance, assuming Azimuth 360 is north.What is the lighted object in the horizon of mars in the first phoenix pics?
it looks like either a hot pixel or a radiation hit.





this is clearer in the full-resolution image, which shows a vertical streak of several fully white pixels.What is the lighted object in the horizon of mars in the first phoenix pics?
????????
Thats a picture defect.
It's a beer can. Left by tourists.

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