Some fantastic globby shapes at the new site:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...2M1.JPG?sol2792
And a good clear view of the NE part of CY:
http://qt.exploratorium.edu/mars/opportuni...0M1.JPG?sol2791

One could assume that the ole girl is getting a bit frisky, no?
FHazcam, x-eyed stereo, lens-corrected. Sol-2792.

"Saddleback", OTOH, has me speechless...

--Bill

Amazing that there's still adequate charge with all the dust! A non-nuclear future mission could have little fans along the edge of the panels, for the occasional dust-off.

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For now, let's hope hope for one of these:

Delurking just to thank all the contributors since we have arrived... it really feels like a new mission all over again. Party like it's 2004!
And here it seems Oppy is practicing her crop circle technique.

Sol 2790 and 2791 actually, updated :


Sol 2792. There is some weird artifact on this pic, caused by a quite strong antivignetting and exposure adjustement in Hugin.

Ant's panorama in circular format:

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Phil

On sol 2786, Oppy took 12 left-eye images of the sun-dial. The two sets of 6 images were offset in time (the shadow moved)
So, I stacked them all anyways to improve S/N (and lost all' color' info in the process)
Someone please tell me that MSL will be able to focus its sun-dial better...
(you can almost read 'two worlds one sun' at the bottom)
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The sundial is actually slightly closer than the minimum focal distance of the pancam. You might be able to improve things by applying a deconvolution algorithm.

MSL's MastCam's can pull focus. The MER PanCam can not.

This makes me sad-face... but then happy-face again since, you know, Oppy's still chugging along like it ain't no thang.

-m

What a glorious mess:
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And the "IR bands" (L2 and R7) are worse about being a bit soft inside that DoF (Depth of Focus) hyperfocal range (ah, that is the word I was trying to remember) and those close-in shots (Sundial and foreground quarter) generally benefit by sharpening up the red channel.

Yeppers. Like Harry Callahan used to say, "You gots to know your limitations"...

The Saddleback sequence (p2438) from Sol-2793 is astounding but the Foreground Quarter (p2587) hasn't made it to Exploratorium yet.

--Bill

Yes, MSL's Mastcams can focus at a range of distances. But, as with Pancam, the foremost desire is to provide good focus for Mars. The Pancams have a wide field of view; the Mastcams do not have such a wide FOV. So, do not expect perfect focus on the cal target ("sundial")--but do expect very good pictures of that and everything else.

FWIW, having the cal targets be in focus for Pancam would have required either (a) a much larger depth of field, with a side effect of much noisier images (especially in blue, green, and 1-micron filter); or ( having the horizon--and anything past, a few m--be out of focus instead. Everything is a trade (like ineffectual solar panel fans vs. a science payload). The Pancams (like IMP and SSI) are set at their hyperfocal position, such that "infinity" is at one end of the depth of field, the other end is somewhere around 2-3 m, and best focus is in between (like 5m or so).

Cape York just keeps giving and giving, doesn't it?

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Oh, man... ...so do you, Stu! That's a beautiful image.

In this nice view looking back to Turkey Haven the rock on the low ledge doesn't look so brittle where the three wheels rolled over (in the foreground). If my calculations were right, that's about 11.4 kilograms (25 lbs) per wheel! (Weight of rover: 180 kg. Gravity on Mars: 38% of Earth's. Number of wheels: 6.) But that's assuming each wheel carries equal load, which might not be the case.

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The Pancam L2 view on Sol 2792.

Jan van Driel

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Updated view of "Saddleback"... so many fascinating features, hues and shapes here all you can do is pan across the image and shake your head in wonder...

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Full size version up on my RtE blog now...

http://roadtoendeavour.wordpress.com/2011/...-birthday-to-us

(to celebrate its 3rd birthday...feel free to drop by, bring a bottle, there'll be nibbles... )

Saddleback/Blencathra?

Wow... I hadn't made that connection, which is a bit embarrassing seeing as I don't live *that* far from Blencathra... well spotted, Sunspot... when you look at the rocks up there they look **very** familiar, don't they?

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Could just be a coincidence, haven't checked into it very deeply yet, but if they have named this martian feature after the Cumbrian fell Blencathra, maybe one of the rover team has been walking in the Lakes at some point, that would be great to know!

(More Blencathra info and pics here: http://www.stridingedge.net/wainwright%20f.../Blencathra.htm )

[quote name='Stu' date='Dec 3 2011, 08:35 PM' post='181132']
Cape York just keeps giving and giving, doesn't it?


Looks like "Sharp Edge" on Blencathra/Saddleback

Congratulations on three years, Stu! (And how good it is that the name of your blog has become obsolete! )

Another crazy piece of Saddleback in 3D:
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Here is a recent image (Sol2794) off the back deck.
L257 combo comes off as hard red and hard blue.
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< EDIT: far left, looks like vertical remnant of an old vein ? >


( congrats Stu on 3 years of RtoE ! Here's to 3 more )

I'll check on that this week... got a couple of tactical shifts where I can bug the science team.

-m

Opportunity in the right position to survive the winter.
Navcam L0 view on Sol 2795.

Jan van Driel

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Oh wow - 3D's normally don't work for me, but either my eyes are getting better, or you are getting better - That came out quite breath taking. Thanks.
(5 out of the last 6 3D's from all of you have worked for me
(9 out of the last 10 3D's from all of you have worked for me
Mike
(as I go behind the curtains again, just enjoying the ride you all work so hard to give me )

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Stereo really does help. Apart from the depth perception, it is the brain's way of doing a form of "super-resolution" by combining the information from two sources. Even with the pancam's far-sighted focus, one can see some detail in this near-field image. The colored part is a crop from PDP8's image in post 123.

After the 2795 drive, we've got a northish tilt of roughly 17 degrees:
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That's because that frame is looking roughly west, and I've assumed the straight western horizon is level.

I bet the mission geologists wish Santa would just drop them off here for Christmas...

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Very nice work Jan. Thank you for your panoramas.

Outcrop "Boesmanskop", L257, Sol-2795.

Added an R731 image so you can roll your own stereo pair of whatever flavor you wish.

Beautiful site, many questions.

--Bill

Here is the Pancam L2 view on Sol 2795.

Jan van Driel

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Another, hopefully de-headached, anaglyph of Saddleback, this time using the sharp L7/R1 pair:
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Colour view of "Boesmanskop"...

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("Boesmanskop" = a South African mountain... http://www.mountainsmounts.com/mountain/42126/boesmanskop )

Wow... dusty deck...

Alas for Blencathra fans (including me), "Saddleback" is also a mountain in South Africa. Though I suppose if the next target is named "Glaramara", we'll have to reconsider what naming scheme is being used...

John

My take on Boesmanskop, L456:

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looking at that picture makes me wonder how all the dust on opportunity's sundial affects colourization. doesn't the dust obscure the colour swatches? is it still possible to make accurate colour information from the cams/filters when the sundial is obscured?

nonetheless, nice pics.

I think dust on the lens is a bigger problem.

Boooooooooooooooo!!!!!

Aw, come on, we have some *great* mountain names here in The Lakes....

Ugordon,
Looking at that image makes me feel like my glasses have been smudged by a three year old with peanut butter hands!
We need a zephyr or some other directional wind to come along at the rim of that massive crater! (or a four minute rain storm!)
Nice work!

Added some more sections to the "Saddleback" mosaic. The image is too big to post here, so I'll invite you over to my blog where I've posted it...

http://roadtoendeavour.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/sb-3.jpg

Note: not claiming accurate or realistic colour, I've tried rather to bring out detail, structure and texture.

[quote name='fredk' date='Dec 1 2011, 11:22 AM' post='181033']

"Squyres and Arvidson... are scheduled to announce the details of the Homestake discovery at the AGU fall meeting in San Francisco next Wednesday, December 7. An update will be posted once the embargo is lifted."

Haven't seen anything yet--but don't know where I should be looking?

It's not even noon here yet.

I'm sure the best place is right here!

3pm PST I believe...

Edit: yep, 3pm... here: http://live.projectionnet.com/agupress/fm2011.aspx

Watching right now (6:25 eastern). Gypsum.

Squyres: referring to Homestake and the gypsum found -
(paraphrasing) 'This is the single, most powerful piece of evidence found by Opportunity for water.'

Time for a drink

Gypsum is too soft, surely. Hardness 2. How would it stand up to erosion in this way?

Small gypsum sample from the collection at Kendal Museum...

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Gypsum? Calcium sulfate? Works for me, and it meshes with the geochem very well. Wishful thinking wanted calcium carbonate, but CaSO4 is a puzzle piece that fits the slot nicely.

Now to find a transcript and not a webcast...

--Bill