> From: Standing Bear ...
> Hello All, > Guess I have to reply to my own post! The page from ESA is: > > > http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM69E3VQUD_1.html#su > bhead4 > > and the large format picture probably referred to in the replies is: > > http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/061-160604_036 > 0-6.co-01-MelasChasma.jpg > > .....but the higher pixel density 3-d view I referred to in > my original post is: > > http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/marsexpress/062-160604_036 > 0-6.3d-01-MelasChasma.jpg > ... Greetings. Mr. Bear, Thank you for clarifying which ESA image you are referring to. Providing the specific links to the "perspective" image was very helpful - and stunningly beautiful to look at too! First things first. I never doubted the fact that you use sophisticated h/w and s/w. I feel no need to question the capacity of your equipment, nor your ability to discern individual pixels. I never entertained the notion that you would have personally manipulated the colors for your own benefit. Suffice it is to say that I can perform equivalent analysis with my system which includes a dual monitor Nvidia video card system (20" and 19" analog Viewsonics, both set at 1600x1200 resolution, at 16 million color pallet with 2 gigabytes of RAM. I'm familiar with using CorelDraw Version 11 suite on a Windows'XP platform. I also posses Corel Paint 8, and Adobe In Design 2, Illustrator 10, and PhotoShop 7. I spent some of my childhood growing up in Pocatello, Idaho. I miss the semi-arid olive green hills and mountains of Idaho filled with evergreens and the aroma of sage. I'm all for finding any kind of life form(s) on the planet. Like you, I would like to believe I have no turf or ideological belief to protect concerning Martian life and/or artifacts. Reading through your comments I became confused when I tried to understand what you were implying in regards to planet "Veeenuss", or references to "swamp gas". The image, "Elf Nap", BTW, was created by my wife who is also an accomplished artist. This "Elf Nap" image definitely has a number of shades of green. I sympathize with the comments in regards to University Professionals, having worked at the University of Wisconsin Space Astronomy Lab (SAL) at Madison back in the mid 1980s. There is in my experience some accuracy to the contention that many academic astronomers will do everything in their power NOT to get their professional reputations in any way linked to subject material considered to be on the fringes of acceptable topics of research. This especially includes speculation on the phenomenon of UFOs, but also discussions on the existence of Extraterrestrial Life can be risky as well. It is, after all, their professional reputations (and salaries) that are at stake. Ok, let's skip the "skeptobabble" and get right to the chase. It has been stated: "There are many green or greenish appearing pixels in the perspective picture which shows a smaller portion of the large overhead shot but at the same resolution." ...followed by "One pixel of the perspective shot in that martian valley, Hex Triplet #6a7236 has a color value of Red:106 Green:114 Blue:54 and appears dark olive green. There are tens of thousands of other pixels with significant green in them." In my own analysis I will be referring to image: 062-160604_0360-6.3d-01-MelasChasma.jpg, downloaded from link: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/SEM69E3VQUD_1.html#subhead4. The image's size is 1500x1049 pixels. Again, this is indeed a stunningly beautiful computer rendered "perspective" of a portion of the Valles Marineris. I think it was very perceptive when the word: "appearing" was used. There are indeed many green "appearing" pixels in this computer generated perspective image. However, in my analysis of greenish appearing pixels on either the valley walls or the valley floor I was only able to detect one pixel with a higher numerical green value than red or blue, the values being R110,G111,B53 (Scale 0 - 255). In every other color sample I attempted on the most greenish appearing pixels the numerical values for RED numerical always exceeded GREEN, and often by quite a margin. With this in mind I'm inclined to believe that the comment "...other pixels with significant green in them." is only in reference to the APPEARANCE of green. I can not agree the hypothesis that there are, as stated, "...tens of thousands of other pixels with significant green in them." The point I'm trying to suggest here is that those green appearing pixels really aren't green. This can easily be verified by copying any of the suspecting single green appearing pixels and transporting them over to a neutral gray background where the RGB values would be the same for each color, for example a gray background consisting of: R128,G128,B128. On top of a neutral gray background each of these green appearing pixels (except perhaps for the one pixel of R110,G111,B53) would appear in shades of red, or brown, or orange. Any appearances of "green" would completely vanish even though their RGB numerical values are exactly the same. That's a perfect example of the manipulation of the science of Color Theory to make a specific color change its hue. A number of Op Artists back in the 1950s and 1960s became masters of the manipulation of this technique. Veering off course for just a second I like to say that my wife and I are artists as well. I'm encouraged that the two of you are selling your ceramic works in five states. As for me I'm beginning to receive royalties off of my Science Fiction & Fantasy works in the format of greeting cards, posters, and t-shirts. My products can be purchased at the Zazzle.com Web site. (see: http://www.zazzle.com/contributors/products/gallery/browse_results.asp?cid=2 38315738297291575) At the rate my royalty earnings are accruing, I boasted to my artist-wife that in another month or two I would able to take her out to McDonalds and treat her to a Happy Meal. As they say, every great artist starts from humble beginnings. Ok, getting back on course... I was particularly interested in the comments: "If there is any plantlife on that rock, the lowest and hottest place on the planet and the most sheltered from the wind is where it will be if it is to be found on the surface. That canyon is miles deep. Bear in mind that only a few miles above our planet is the silent boundary of breathable air for us." I agree that in the lowest elevations one would find the densest atmospheric pressure on the Martian surface. It would be interesting to measure precisely what that that pressure might turn out to be. I could very well be wrong on this point but I get the impression that even at the lowest depths the pressure is still extremely rarified, meaning water on the surface would immediately boil away, as would the blood in our own arteries if we were so foolish to walk about without the protection of pressurized suits. Never the less, I have read one intriguing comment some time ago that Mar's occasional global sand storms have a tendency to temporarily increase the overall atmospheric pressure as well as to kick up the ambient temperature by a significant amount. However, such changes are temporary lasting only for the duration of the sand storms. Still, I would agree with the hypothesis that if some form of Martian "plantlife" does exist a good place to seek them out would be in the lowest regions where the atmospheric pressure would be the greatest. At present, however, remain more pessimistic concerning the chances of discovering live "plantlife" on the surface. Based on what I've analyzed so far it would appear to me to be more likely that the most advanced still living life form we may eventually discover would be hearty strains of anaerobic bacteria. Perhaps even some anaerobic forms of single cellular life as well, but I feel like I'm stretching things a bit. Never the less, I would be pleased to be proven wrong if explorers eventually discover complex multi-cellular life forms firmly rooted on the surface, or perhaps even scuttling about. The more exotic, the better. Come to think of it, there is no reason why "plantlife" or any kind of "life" for that matter has to conform to any shade of green. What's wrong with different shades of orange and brown? They are, after all, the predominant colors of the planet! One final point concerning the comment, "Everybody knows what green looks like." I'd like to suggest that, no, that's not an entirely accurate statement. I would reply that there are ways to suggest and imply shades of green when in actuality no green had ever been present. The downloaded perspective image "062-160604_0360-6.3d-01-MelasChasma.jpg" is a perfect example of such an illusion at work. Regards, Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com
