Curiosity’s latest discovery is a fascinating ‘open book’ on Mars – Enseñame de Ciencia

2023-05-20 00:27:39

A little alien reading: Curiosity’s latest discovery is a fascinating “open book” on Mars. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring the surface of Mars for more than a decade, around its trip it has captured hundreds of images that have caught the attention of the public, and now it happened once once more: the rover photographed a rock that at first sight It looks like the open pages of a book. What is the explanation of what we are seeing?, he keeps reading to find out!

On April 15, 2023, the 3,800th Martian day, or sol, Curiosiy took this close-up of a rock nicknamed “Terra Firme” that appears to be the open pages of a book. The image was obtained using the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the end of its robotic arm. Although it appears to be the size of a typical book, it is actually rather tiny, the rock measuring only regarding 2.5 centimeters.

“A light read,” reads the rover’s official Twitter account. “My team believes that this uniquely shaped pebble resembles an open book with the pages blowing. (Although with only two centimeters in diameter, it would be a tiny book…)”.

As explained by NASA collaborators, unusually shaped rocks are common on Mars, and were often formed by water seeping through cracks in a rock in the ancient past, bringing with it harder minerals. For billions of years, the wind has acted on the softest rocks, detaching the soft material and leaving the hardest parts, in this way we can appreciate different somewhat strange shapes today.

When we see these kinds of shapes it gives us an idea of ​​something familiar. For example, in this case if you see that it looks like an open book it is because your mind is trying to make sense of the unknown, a phenomenon known as pareidolia. In other words, pareidolia is a psychological tendency that leads the viewer to search for meaning in random images or sounds.

It has happened on several occasions, although this type of interpretation is not uncommon. When it comes to images from other worlds or the universe in general, there is an inexhaustible source of pareidolia. Basically anything you see you can look for some kind of sense or meaning. If you want to know more images of this type click here.

Today Mars looks like a hostile world for life, but scientists have proposed that things might have been different once upon a time. The red planet may have had similar conditions to our planet, where life may have arisen at some point in its history. One of the main goals of robotic explorers on Mars is to search for signs of ancient life, and studying these aquatic environments might help solve the mystery.

Recommended article: A dragon’s spine on Mars? NASA explains what the strange object is regarding

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