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- Published: October 31, 2024 10:32
New Delhi: Latest photos from NASA’s Perseverance Rover show a strange green rock on Martian territory with green spots on the surface. The rover has been exploring ancient environments, collecting samples, and investigating whether our reddish neighbour may have once supported microbial life.
Image Credits: NASA
Perseverance took a nighttime mosaic image of the Malgosa Crest abrasion patch, at a location called the “Serpentine Rapids,” using its SHERLOC WATSON camera. The image revealed white, black and, surprisingly, greenish spots within the rock. While these rocks’ composition remains a mystery, the unexpected find has scientists excited about what other hidden gems Perseverance might stumble across going forward.
The Perseverance Rover, nicknamed Percy is a car-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Jezero crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. The rover’s mission is to explore Jezero Crater, a location that may have been habitable in the past, and search for signs of ancient life. It will also study the evolution of Mars’ climate, surface, and interior.
How Did these Green spots form on the Martian rock surface?
So far, the exact reasons responsible for the green spots found in Perseverance’s image continue to remain enigmatic.
Unfortunately, there was not enough room to safely place the rover arm containing the SHERLOC and PIXL instruments directly atop one of the green spots within the abrasion patch, so their composition remains a mystery. However, the team is always on the lookout for similar interesting and unexpected features in the rocks.
One plausible theory that scientists behind the greenish tint on the rocks is believe to be the phenomenon of oxidization. On Earth, bed rocks when oxidized get their red colour (Fe3+) due to the reaction with oxygen. However, green spots like those observed in the Wallace Butte abrasion are common in ancient “red beds” on Earth and form when liquid water percolates through the sediment before it hardens to rock, kicking off a chemical reaction that transforms oxidized iron to its reduced (Fe2+) form, resulting in a greenish hue.