>From Eric > I remember reading somewhere that some images are being processed > to look as though they were taken under terrestrial light in order > to make it easier for scientists to identify certain details, but > I may be remembering things incorrectly.
It's my understanding that occasionally NASA enhances certain images in a manner as to increase the visibility of certain Martian artifacts. For example, the round "blueberries" Terry was referring to a while back, images taken by (I believe) Opportunity, were digitally, or artificially enhanced so that the individual nodules would stand out better from the rest of the landscape. The long description: Actually, I suspect it's kind of tricky trying to reconstruct these interplanetary images to "true" color. What is "true" color anyway? By whose standard - Earth or Mars? Be that as it may, you need color reference charts in order to calibrate images against. I bet there are probably a couple of these color calibration charts affixed to the surface of Curiosity in strategic locations. Images will probably have to be regularly calibrated against these color charts to make sure "true" color is more-or-less being transmitted back to earth. Keep in mind the fact that Mars doesn't have a blue sky due to (I believe) the lack of nitrogen in its extremely thin atmosphere. I think Nitrogen is responsible for causing our atmosphere to look blue. We would basically see a dark brown sky if we were standing on the surface of Mars. It's only gets light, to the color of pale yellow ochre towards the Martian horizon where a predominance of dust is kicked up into the thin atmosphere. All of these natural Martian artifacts will affect the overall color and shade of what the eye will see in the Martian landscape. The short description: What's natural coloring for Mars is not Natural coloring for Earth. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
