Here’s something fascinating and puzzling, maybe WUWT readers can help figure this one out. There’s also a neat flipbook animation below the read more line.
Wayne Jaeschke writes:
Here’s a stumper for any Mars experts. While processing my Mars images from last night, I found a strange feature over Acidalia (top right of the animation below). I made this 5-frame animation of the green-light images. The feature appears in all the channels, but is most visible in blue and green and least visible in IR. Also, it moves with the planet (ruling out dust motes on the sensor) and seems to rise over the limb. Fog rolled in after this, so there is no additional data later than this. If anyone caught Mars after 2:15UT last night, please check your images… particularly after 2:51UT.
Update Note: for those of you Mars geographers, the most appropriate geographic location to cite for where the feature resides is Terra Cimmerium. Acidalia was where I thought it was at first glance, but the measured location is 190 degrees by 43 degrees (South) placing over Terra Cimmerium.
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My thought is some sort of volcanic eruption, as that would be the only thing I could think of that would make an elongated plume that high…but this seems to be even too high for that, but then again Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, at 22 km (14 mi) high. If it were volcanic, it would be a first. According to Wikipedia: [Astronomers] have never recorded an active volcano eruption on the surface of Mars; however, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter photographed lava flows that must have occurred within the past two million years, suggesting a relatively recent geologic activity.
Barring that, maybe some sort of gravity induced comet disintegration?
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It Tony Abbott’s fault!
(Funny to all readers from Oz …)
No comment
http://alpo-j.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/kk12/m120326e1.jpg
Hi William,
I am serious. Thre pansperia hypothesis predates the small comets. Fascinaing, attractive idea, in need of evidence. Claims of amino acids in meteorites came before, the trouble is they’re fossilized and vitrified,; as dead as doornails. We have a hypothesis in need of a supporting piece of evidence, and along comes Dr Louis Frank with tv-specks he interprets as small comets.
I’m not a scientist, but I have been around the block enough to know that looking for evidence to support a pretty idea is always something we need to look at with a jaundiced eye. It could be so, but not on the weight of any of this. I surfed a bit and in a matter of seconds found the panspermia connection: http://www.panspermia.org/streaks.htm. The article there implies that NASA supplied the evidence. No such thing; NASA did not interpret Frank’s specks as small comets: (see http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1997/ast09dec97_2/). To wit, from that article, a University of Washington geophysicist George Parks “analyzed Frank’s ultraviolet (UV) camera images and has concluded that the white snow in space is no more than black ‘snow’ on the television screen…Parks began an analysis of his own images taken with the Ultraviolet Imager (UVI) on the NASA Polar satellite. There he found the same dark spots that Frank had found on his images…..He grew even more uneasy about Frank’s analysis when he found that the UVI had recorded the same dark spots while pointed at a UV light in the laboratory…..When Parks began a minute examination of the images, made by breaking the clusters of spots down into tiny picture point, or pixels, he found statistical evidence that he was seeing not real events, but what he calls an ‘instrument artifact.'”
I don’t think that either pansperia or small comets have been decisively debunked. However, both are credibly disputed, making them controversial. The water from comets is a plausible hypothesis. Although it’s thought the composition of water in comets (e.g., heavy water) is too different, there is the possibility of some comets containing earth-like water, so the water from comets notion is not dismissed and may be plausible (see: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast18may_1/). My issue with the whole thing is the convenient match between two hypotheses that are by themselves weak and highly disputed, but together make beautiful music. Am I saying you’re totally wrong? No, these are attractive hypotheses presented by very smart people, but given the evidence and circumstance I happen to think they are both pretty unlikely, eventhough it would indeed be neat if at least one were true.
A FOI request to the French military is in order.They will deny testing fusion weapons on other planets (being French) of course so…
(lump of rock) Impact ?
Blow out? CO2, Methane, Water (!) (something fairly volatile?)
Anthropogenic? Perhaps utilising some teleconnection via that newly discovered universal force – statistics, PR and media? (S&M)
Can someone out in WUWT land put a scale to this event?
I think he isolated the horizon to run some image enhancement to bring out the detail. I’d do the same thing. – Anthony
Possibly, but why did he not indicate that the image was enhanced? This line appears only in the larger enhancement too, and shouldn’t remain there once the job is done.
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vukcevic says:
March 28, 2012 at 2:29 pm
Peter you are too late, Stockholm call has been cancelled, someone has already the ‘evidence’.
http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-release/ice-meteorite-found-with-extraterrestrial-lifeforms-182667.php
That was back in 2o10, why no follow-up? One would think that would be pretty big. Isn’t such a bombastic announcement a regular feature by now?
A major methane gas release from a volcano.
http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-methane-mystery.htm
correct link: (missing one letter)
http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-methane-mystery.html
vukcevic says:
March 28, 2012 at 3:11 pm
No comment
http://alpo-j.asahikawa-med.ac.jp/kk12/m120326e1.jpg
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No comment, but a question, one you may be uniquely qualified to answer, Vuk. Why is Mars munching on a big juicy cevapcici? [Mod: Not a dirty word, trust me on that]
kbray in california says:
March 28, 2012 at 3:35 pm
A major methane gas release from a volcano.
In other words, a big foo-foo. Must have happened after Mars ate Vukcevic’s cevapcici. Things are coming together. That’s why I like WUWT.
‘During the opposition … a great light was seen on the illuminated part of the disk, first at the Lick Observatory, then by Perrotin of Nice, and then by other observers. English readers heard of it first in the issue of NATURE … I am inclined to think that this blaze may have been the casting of the huge gun, in the vast pit sunk into their planet, from which their shots were fired at us. Peculiar markings, as yet unexplained, were seen near the site of that outbreak during the next two oppositions. ‘
Peter Kovachev says:
March 28, 2012 at 3:55 pm
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Peter,
Anthony asked for a serious answer on this one, no matter how much a green floating cloud screams for humor …”Here’s something fascinating and puzzling, maybe WUWT readers can help figure this one out.”
My final vote is a major eruption of a methane cloud.
It’s green.
It’s the only shoe that fits… or the only foo that sh…
No joke.
From an obscure internet source:
“In the visible range nearly all common and probable atmospheric gases are transparent. The exception is methane. Methane absorbs red light, and therefore to the human eye an atmosphere with even a few percent methane appears blue-green under standard sol type illumination.”
http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oa-page&page=gen_skyonalienworlds
KQED…. wait, that’s a PBS station…. OK, QED.
Is the cloud really all that “high”. If you look at the animated GIF on the other side of Mars from the cloud, you can see how high the atmosphere is by what may be the equivlent of cirrus on Mars. If the atmosphere on Mars is about the same height as Earth’s, then you can tell by eye Mars has a smaller diameter. The cloud seems to have reached the same altitude as the putative cirrus. Is dust able to reach that height on Mars? I’d bet we are looking at winds coming from the pole. Perhaps downrushing cold air as winter approaches.
Why is Mars munching on a big juicy cevapcici? [Mod: Not a dirty word, trust me on that]
And there’s me promoting this site as an island in a sea of smut.
3×2 says:
March 28, 2012 at 4:50 pm
It proves the sea level is rising….
3×2,
Cevapcici: Ćevapi or ćevapčići (formal diminutive, ћевапчићи) is a grilled dish of minced meat, a type of kebab, found traditionally in the countries of southeastern Europe. They are considered a national dish in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina[1] and in Serbia.[2][3][4] They are also common in Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, as well as in Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Italian provinces bordering Slovenia.
[REPLY: Yes, we needed the jaws of life to get that one out of the spam filter. -REP]
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Perfect.
It’s faint in IR, so it isn’t warm. How about wateer vapor? Ice sublimating?
kbray in california says:
March 28, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Peter Kovachev says:
March 28, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Peter,
Anthony asked for a serious answer on this one, no matter how much a green floating cloud screams for humor …
I was serious about it, kbray; I called it a build-up to an April Fool’s spoof, similar to one pulled in 2010, an example of which I put in my first post. Seems like other sources, dedicated and bright amateur astronomers with ingenuity but relatively modest equipment, have followed up, so maybe it’s real.
Still, what we have are a bunch of grainy images of an apparent anomaly which even Mars specialists might have difficulty with, if it’s an anomaly. So, all we can do is stare at the image, google around to see if anything comes up and make a lot of guesses and jokes. If this is real, astronomers will provide better images and may have an answer or a better guess than we would. I happen to think that your methane is unlikely, because it’s based on a hypothesis and this thing is ginormous. Maybe it’s a massive meteor strike which propelled gazillions of tons of Martian soil to the top of the atmosphere. I understand there has been no volcanic activity for millions of years and it would be weird if blew its top just now, when Mars happens to be conveniently nearby. The most likely explanation, I think, is that it’s a cloud formation from a huge storm, the kind seen on Mars last spring.
In any event, we are all guessing and goofing around. This page would be bereft of comments if we waited for an expert, but no one declared himself an expert here and the images are insufficient for the amateur astronomers, many who are formidable experts, albeit without advanced equipment, computers and teams. I’m still waiting for high grade images and pronouncements from universities and research centres.
PS: kbray in california,
About the “it’s green” bit, you do realize you’re looking at an image taken with a relatively small telescope probably with consumer grade optics, taken with a commercial digital camera and viewing it on your uncalibrated LCD monitor?
I have minor complaint:
The author of this post noticed what may be an unusual phenomena on Mars. He took the time and trouble to produce an animation to draw attention to what is a subtle observation and asked if anyone has an explanation. His post drew my interest as a layman because it was unusual.
I had to read through 116 replies to find the few that addressed his question. The rest were from would-be comedians practicing their stand-up acts. I like funny one-liners as much as the next guy but not when they overwhelm the topic. It makes finding the few informed opinions a chore.
That’s my two-cents and I apologize beforehand if I offended anyone.
People want me to get serious. Fine. A dust storm, unless proven otherwise, is the best explanation, pushing aside exotic causes like mega-meteors, suddenly waking volcanos or green methane farts. Martian storms occur frequently and are well documented. They are massive and are sometimes planet wide and can occasionally be seen with backyard telescopes, as the one on on Oct. 27 and 28, 2005 (http://www.space.com/1723-major-dust-storm-mars-visible-backyard-telescopes.html). The imagery from that one shows bluish-green patches, making parts of Mars look like it has oceans…or green methane, or blue cheese if you will, which is why a serious analyses of low res images from ground level and through our distorting atmospheric “lens” are better done in monochrome.
Barghumer says:
March 28, 2012 at 8:04 am
@gbbaking
There is no room for any 3 legged creatures on the planet anymore because their places have been taken already by creatures with three rotating arms.
Hollywood could redo the movie (again…) with that classic scene of the panicked locals updated to shooting a windmill (preferably with a .50 cal machinegun)…
One can dream.
[“Pull my tenticle. (Pfffft!) ha ha ha ha ha ha. Do you think the Earthlings saw that?”]
[REPLY: Yes, we needed the jaws of life to get that one out of the spam filter. -REP]
I declare a thread winner!! ROFLMAO. Hey, next time how about a little heads up there. Now I have to clean the screen of coffee spew *grin*.
Mariss Freimanis says:
March 28, 2012 at 6:41 pm
Marriss, I’m sorry if some of us put you through an ordeal of having to read every post. This isn’t an encyclopedia, most of us are laymen and we work through problems and mysteries on an ad-hoc, by-the-seat of our pants basis. If you pay attention, you’ll note that there are gems among the “would-be comedian stand-up acts.” I’m sure Wayne Jeschke, the chap who posted the challenge doesn’t mind a few mild chuckles as he follows our progress; most people are not impeded with an embedded pickled cucumber in the most inconvenient spot. No offense taken, no offense given; chill baby and enjoy the process of mad geniuses at play and work.