Astronomy Picture of the Day -- Jelly Donut Shaped Rock Appears on Mars

NASA ^ | January 29, 2014 | (see photo credit)

[SunkenCiv]

Explanation: What if a rock that looked like a jelly donut suddenly appeared on Mars? That's just what happened in front of the robotic Opportunity rover currently exploring the red planet. The unexpectedly placed rock, pictured above, was imaged recently by Opportunity after not appearing in other images taken as recently as twelve Martian days (sols) before. Given the intriguing mystery, the leading explanation is somewhat tame -- the rock was recently scattered by one of the rover's tires. Even so, the rock's unusual light tones surrounding a red interior created interest in its composition -- as well as causing it to be nicknamed Jelly Donut. A subsequent chemical analysis showed the rock has twice the abundance of manganese than any other rock yet examined -- an unexpected clue that doesn't yet fit into humanity's understanding of the Martian geologic history. Opportunity, just passing its 10-year anniversary on Mars, continues to explore the Murray Ridge section of the rim of 22-kilometer wide Endeavor Crater.

[SunkenCiv]

[Credit: Mars Exploration Rover Mission, Cornell, JPL, NASA]

[SunkenCiv]

The Big One

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[Diana in Wisconsin]

Correction...WAS a donut shaped rock...

[Dallas59]

[MeshugeMikey]

space trash...i.e space junk

[right way right]

Manganese.
Bet that would give you some major diarrhea.

[onyx]

Rather amazing!
Thank you so much, SunkenCiv!

[ALASKA]

I read today that a scientist is suing NASA (doesn’t make sense to me either) to get them to take better pictures of the rock. The suer says it’s not a rock, but spore growth. If you look, there IS something about the same shape and size in the first picture. Just strange.......

[knarf]

Ja'evah see an ol' pile o'dog shit that had turned kind'a white ....

?

[mass55th]

Looks like a used condom.

[zipper]

Martian turd.

[high info voter]

Sure, Martians are trying to lure our cops away.

[smokingfrog]

There’s a picture of a guy sticking his tongue out right below the jelly donut.

[bmwcyle]

Ich bin ein Berliner auf der Straße.

[LibFreeUSA]

"...the leading explanation is somewhat tame -- the rock was recently scattered by one of the rover's tires."

It's an idiotic "explanation"! Why? Because anyone can see that the pebbles immediately surrounding the "rock" are still visible in the 'before' and 'after' pictures. If the rover "scattered" that rock, it would have 'collateral-scattering' surrounding the rock as well.

[shibumi]

[blueunicorn6]

Nice paving stones, but somebody needs to get out the broom and do a little sweeping.

[blueunicorn6]

“Opportunity, just passing its ten year anniversary on Mars”

It’s a piece of birthday cake.

[going hot]

Not seeing the forest for the tree, or the rock. In the background, the ground appears to be made of flagstone.

If natural, it would mean the ground was worn off at a flat level.

If this was wind, one would expect the "grout" to be softer or harder than the stone, and thus leave irregular level.

But the ground is flat, indicating what, a glacier, an unnaturally prepared surface?

[gortklattu]