I'm with Bug2K on this one, guessing that the exposure time was relatively long. So, something zipping along in orbit and reflecting light would show as a streak in the final image.

That's one of the things I've been curious about for a while now - what would the surface of Mars look like *to my eye*? The pictures from the rovers are massaged and messed with to the point that they show a red plain under what looks like a bright summer day, but that's clearly nuts - Mars is so much farther away from the Sun, I'd guess that high noon on Mars would still be pretty dim compared to Earth.

Anyone know if any "human eye's view" pictures exist anywhere?

Glad to see some people out there still playing starcraft. I think I'll go home and re-install!

Protoss Carrier devestation!!!

Zerg rush!!!

broadhouse
Did anybody figure out what the number "19" and the dancing guy etched in Martian rock were all about?

It just turned out to be an ordinary "61". Nothing to see here.

OMG, we can see the sun reflecting off of our own orbiter!!!!

Space Junk? Shooting Star?



I DON'T THINK SO!!!!

/Hey! Wha Happened?!

I, for one, welcome our new streaking alien overlords.


*had to*

I, for one, welcome our new UFO flying overlords!

buntz,

Space star shooting junk?!!?!

I don't mean to put on a tinfoil hat, but what are the statistical odds that this object would streak through the sky at exactly the moment the camera was looking up at the sky? Not to mention the horizon visible is only a small part of the Mars sky.

Figure the sattelites have been up there for 10-20 years. What are the odds one would plummet at exactly that moment?

Seems creepy to me.

Oh, and Bush is an atrocious President. Vote Kerry.

Just in case, better replace your irregular 12 month catholic calendars.

http://www.tortuga.com

World 13 Moon Calendar Change Peace Movement - Planet Art Network - Galactic Mayan 13:20

The moon orbits Earth in a thirteen spiral orbit around the sun called the solar ring.

I was thinking what Bug2k said. An orbiting satellite wouldn't have a trailing tail like that, only a meteor would.

By the way, I am NOT a scientist.

I find it amazing this rover duo is finding so much stuff.

Surely a great time to be alive.

It's most likely a farkING METEORITE. I know, a streak of light across the sky can be so mysterious. Give me a break.

Cranky Bastard:

*Anyone know if any "human eye's view" pictures exist anywhere?*

From mars?

I think everyone should take a moment and incite panic by running around screaming and pushing old people over.

I know I'm going to.

"/farking morons....."

Here's a question: is the bigger moron the one making a claim for alien beings, tongue planted firmly in cheek, or is it the guy who actually believes that those claims are being made with any seriousness. Golly, that's a corker.

On topic: Meh.

? (insert where appropriate)

Anyone know if any "human eye's view" pictures exist anywhere?

No, but this might help.

Yeah Bagu..you'll be happy to be alive when the Martians send their own rover to Earth to inspect us. Let the anal probing commence.

It was grit.

/Red Dwarf

Flying Daleks I say. Exterminaaaate!

http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/press/spirit/20040318a/07-JG-01-pan-A07 4R1.jpg
this is a HUGE picture.

Mars has a peach/flesh colored sky.
So the Matthew Sweet album "Blue Sky on Mars" is a lie! A LIE!

Looks more like a scratch to me.

OK, I'm not communicating very effectively. Let me try again.

Take Blacksmithking's photo as a starting point. (Neat image, by the way!)

Here's my question: If I were standing beside the rover when that picture was taken, would I see the scene that way? In other words, is the landscape really that bright, or is the "brightness" due to extended exposure by the camera?

I can walk out in my backyard at night and not see a lot of detail, even after giving my eyes time to adjust as much as they can. I can also set the exposure time on my digital camera to be several seconds, then take the camera back indoors and view an image with quite a bit more detail. I'm just wondering if that's being done with the Mars pictures, that's all.

Of course, I could just be an idiot and be missing something obvious...

OMG ITS TEH STREAK ALIENS!

I hear they are 1" high and 5' wide, and walk around sideways on their hands.

... That's right, I've got nothin'. And I'm not ashamed of it.

We have HOW MANY useless craft above Mars?

We just litter everywhere.

Here's a question: is the bigger moron the one making a claim for alien beings, tongue planted firmly in cheek, or is it the guy who actually believes that those claims are being made with any seriousness. Golly, that's a corker.

Golly! That IS a corker, old chap! Golly!

Mars has a peach/flesh colored sky.
So the Matthew Sweet album "Blue Sky on Mars" is a lie! A LIE!

Misconception. The pictures from Mars are colorized. Bad Astronomy fights ignorance

It's the Viking probe!
WUNDERBAR!

/obscure commercial reference.

Your article, about pictures of another planet, quoted Richard Hoagland.

Could it be a rogue probe astaroid like the one that'll pass us on Monday?
Maybe asteroids are like cigarettes and wolves.
Killers that travel in packs.

The title for this is completely lame. Mars has meteors also, not just Earth. Additionaly, we put a bunch of low orbiting probes there. Some one get the submitter a chill pill, or fly them to Mars or something.

Something put there by the government to justify funding for the next mission.

F/D

your rover wants an anal probe.

It's obviously an Imperial probot searching for the Rebel base.

Yeesh! After chasing links and reading up on how the imaging system works, I can see that it's a hell of a lot more complicated than I thought.

I've finally concluded that the images we're seeing are the result of the experts' best efforts - and that's about all one can say.

I hope I'll live long enough to get my original question answered, though: when a human steps out onto the surface of Mars at high noon, will he need sunglasses, or a flashlight?

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m0llusk: First off, a UFO does not mean something created by man. If a meteor were in the picture and we didn't know what it was, it qualifies as an unidentified flying object whether it be on Earth or Mars. You know, 'cause it's unidentified and it's flying and it's an object. Second, the fact that the submitter used the word pantaloons suggests that the headline is perhaps tongue in cheek.

buntz

Fell off my chair laughing - nice!

It boggles the mind if you think about it enough...while everything goes on as-normal here on Earth...we've got a fricking probe on Mars. Scootin' around, collecting samples, and finding out things that astronomers have wanted to know since astronomy friggin' began.

It makes Courtney Love seem even more irrelevant, if that's even possible.