My Findings
Mars Fossils - Detailed Proof And Images
The previous images were only a hint that there was more to look at. What was needed was unweathered, clean and pristine spheres and good clear images of them. This came on Sol 15. Note the groove features, as they were the first clear evidence, along with the identical shapes of some "stones" and their identical lobes.
| When I saw this
image in the Sol 15 microscopic images, I knew that these were
fossils. No simple geological or weathering process produces
markings of this complexity and regularity.
This shows a single sphere still stuck to the rock facing. Note the rounded, smooth appearance and very fine structure of the rock itself. It is clearly dried mud or sediment from a watery environment. The sharp-eyed person can make out the very fine layers at the upper right of the image. While it is possible for volcanic ash to make such sediments and layers, there is clear evidence against it right here- the deep and rounded holes and cavities in the rock itself. It suggests that the layering was done by a liquid medium, because such smooth and complex holes are very, very rare in wind blown sculpting. Now, look at the markings on the sphere- a clear and perfect acute triangle (pointing upward) can be seen. Furthermore, some finer lines can be seen radiating from the bottom of the triangle, upward and out. The next picture shows it in far finer detail. |
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The raw image is available here: http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/all/1/m/015/1M129515692EFF0312P2939M2M1.JPG
Once I had this image and its twins, I knew that I could perform a simple enhancement method to get far more data from these pictures. I will outline that in a moment. For now, let's look directly at the high resolution magnified image of this sphere.
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This structure was
definitely not the work of wind and water. Nor was this the random
crystallization of some mineral. There is a clear triangle incised
into the surface of the sphere, along with markings that are of the same
"stroke" width, as if made by a tool.
The center of the triangle shows a notch or groove at the bottom, like the trunk of a tree. Radiating from that notch are fine lines- once again, they show bilateral symmetry, like the right and left halves of a face or a body. Except for some minor bits of sand on the image, it is clearly perfect and not some random wear pattern. Can this image be seen on other spheres? Also, is there a way to get a better view? Indeed there is. |
Amateur astronomers have often felt the need for sharper telescope images without the great expense of buying or making a larger telescope. To that end, they have developed a number of image processing programs that can take numerous images of the same object and artificially increase the resolution of the image. Note that this method eliminates noise in the picture and strengthens the real features. This technique is called frame layering.
The theory is simple- each pixel of the image is used to average the information present- noise, or random errors, will be "voted out" because they are present less often than the actual image data. Real image data will be present almost always, and will outweigh the noise and blurring caused by "star twinkling" or atmospheric blurring.
This method is also used by law enforcement and intelligence gathering institutions, for enhancing spy satellite data and pulling images out of grainy, poor quality photographs. By applying this method, I could take the five identical pictures from the NASA site and stack them together, then process them for contrast and brightness to get the best possible image.