# Okay, what THE HELL is this object on Mars? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128 "2022-02-25T23:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/1 "2022-02-25T23:09:11Z")
> **[Sol 3396: Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) – NASA Mars Exploration](https://mars.nasa.gov/raw_images/1029436/)** > > NASA's Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on the turret at the end of the rover's robotic arm, on February 24, 2022, Sol 3396 of the Mars Science Laboratory Mission, at 15:13:29 UTC.When this... ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/2 "2022-02-25T23:40:24Z")
Cool! ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/3 "2022-02-25T23:41:48Z")
Looks kind of like a splash that’s been frozen. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/4 "2022-02-26T00:08:47Z")
My guess. That or a Martian succulent. ETA: baby Graboid? ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/5 "2022-02-26T00:31:51Z")
I think it will take a little while for us to get a factual reply to this. I’ve subscribed to the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/6 "2022-02-26T01:19:21Z")
Hmm. The commentary on the image suggests that the camera was about 4cm away from the object, so the object is maybe 1cm or smaller. I’ll guess it is some form of dentrite formed from cemented sand that has been later exposed by wind erosion. Water percolating upwards has carried carbonates of some form that have formed a dentritic fissure and precipitated carbonates within and incorporated some of the surrounding sand. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/7 "2022-02-26T02:17:15Z")
I was pretty startled by the text that NASA chose to go with that picture, which was entirely focused on… focus, as in how the camera was situated when imaging the, let’s call it the “phenomenon”. I’m sure all the shutterbugs were pleased to know the motor count was 14625, so we know for sure that the dust cover was definitely not closed when the snapshot was taken. Funnily enough though, my first thought when seeing this had nothing to do with the mechanics of extraplanetary photography, they were more in line with the “what the hell” paradigm as expressed so eloquently by our OP. Try again, NASA. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/8 "2022-02-26T02:19:50Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > I was pretty startled by the text that NASA chose to go with that picture, which was entirely focused on… focus, I assume that is boilerplate text that just has the actual values substituted into it automatically. More helpful than not, but that is about it. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/9 "2022-02-26T02:20:42Z")
> [@Francis\_Vaughan](#): > > The commentary on the image suggests that the camera was about 4cm away from the object, so the object is maybe 1cm or smaller. Yes, please see here: > ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/10 "2022-02-26T02:54:19Z")
Looks superficially precisely like this, so this my guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/11 "2022-02-26T08:31:31Z")
Dendritic mineral growths are [commonly mistaken for fossils](https://woostergeologists.scotblogs.wooster.edu/2013/01/20/woosters-pseudofossil-of-the-week-manganese-dendrites-from-the-germany/#:~:text=A%20pseudofossil%20is%20an%20object,Germany%20(scale%20in%20millimeters).) of living things here on Earth, so it’s probably too soon to get excited… That said, it is very interesting, and I am excited anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/12 "2022-02-26T10:54:22Z")
What’s interesting about this is that it appears to be perpendicular to the bedding planes in the rock - if indeed those diagonal striations are exposed edges of bedding planes - they look like they are. All of the examples of dendritic mineral formations I can think of have been flat between the bedding planes. I suppose it’s possible that this object is not resting exactly in the place where it formed though. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/13 "2022-02-26T11:07:52Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > it’s probably too soon to get excited I disagree, a formation like this is reason to be very excited that the hypotheses about water action on Mars are being borne out. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/14 "2022-02-26T11:13:26Z")
Sure, I meant ‘excited that this could be a fossil’. It looks like a fossil of a primitive marine organism like a sponge, but I don’t believe it can be that simply because smarter people than me must have already considered that before the image even got on public view. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/15 "2022-02-26T11:23:38Z")
Oh, that’s just Dr. Manhattan. Don’t mind him, he’s mostly harmless. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/16 "2022-02-26T12:18:45Z")
It could be some kind of evaporite. Water on Mars boils at the same time as it thaws, and a salty spring of some kind might leave behind a lumpy set of crusty tubes as the water reaches the surface then disappears into vapour. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/17 "2022-02-26T14:05:26Z")
First thought: it looked like a fulgurite that became exposed when the surrounding dirt got blown away. There’s lightning on Mars, isn’t there? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/18 "2022-02-26T14:39:09Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > First thought: it looked like a fulgurite that became exposed when the surrounding dirt got blown away. That was my initial thought based on its appearance, but once I saw the scale, it seemed like it was too small. Water based mineral formation seems more likely. > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > There’s lightning on Mars, isn’t there? Maybe, but if so it’s pretty rare and much weaker than here on Earth. > **[Why Mars Lightning Is Weak and Rare](https://www.space.com/mars-lightning-weak-thin-atmosphere.html)** > > If it exists at all, that is. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/19 "2022-02-26T14:57:41Z")
> **[Curiosity Finds a Bizarre Rock on Mars that Looks Like a Flower](https://www.universetoday.com/154699/curiosity-finds-a-bizarre-rock-on-mars-that-looks-like-a-flower/)** > > The Curiosity rover took a picture of something pretty enticing this week on the surface of Mars. While the object in question looks like a tiny little flower or maybe even some type of organic feature, the rover team confirmed this object is a... ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-what-the-hell-is-this-object-on-mars/960128/20 "2022-02-26T21:16:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > if indeed those diagonal striations are exposed edges of bedding planes Look like wind erosion grooving. hard to say if it’s exposed the bedding or just grooves in a more massive unbedded rock.