Opportunity Sol 128 Images
Color images assembled from the raw data
Sol 128 thumbnails from Endurance Crater's rim - a geyser vent and track details
Color is from L2 (near-infrared), L5 (green), and L7 (violet) (or R6/R7)
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| The color is a little too rich, but it makes the wash area very clear - clean spheres versus muddy ones. | a false-color image of the geyser to the right of the washed fossil spherules (from filters R6, R7) | Opportunity's tracks press some of the fossils into the soil and expose the darker inner surface of broken stone |
The first image is a clear sign of water erosion. The mud has been washed off some of the fossils in a band, which is easily seen as a lighter gray stripe. The second image is a very distinct geyser slot and the piled up spherule debris from its spray pattern. The third image shows how the rocks are much deeper red inside, and the outer surfaces washed clean of iron oxides. Sunlight cannot bleach iron oxides from the soil, or the whole planet would be white. This leaves only water as the explanation.