Closeup of Bright Object in 'Rocknest'

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Today's Image of Mars is a closeup of a mysterious bright object located at Rocknest on Mars taken by MSL Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). The image shows an area spanning only 4cm across, which should give you a better idea of how big these bright particles are. MSL took this image after it had taken a scoop of the terrain.

Click this image to see the high resolution image from NASA. 

The MSL team was originally worried that the bright objects could be a part of the rover that had fallen off, as this has already happened once before, but after further image analysis it was determined that these bright particles are natural to Mars. 

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Bright Object Embedded in MSL Curiosity's Path

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Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity took this 5cm wide image of the soil just beneath the surface sampled by the rover on 12 Oct 2012 (sol 66 of MSL's mission). This image showed a bright object embedded in the soil at the top center. Can you see it? 

Click to see high resolution version from NASA.

Because the object is embedded in the soil scientists on the MSL team have determined that the bright object is native to Mars. This comes after MSL saw a similar bright object on the ground next to it. It was determined that that bright object was a piece of the rover that had fallen off. What's different about this is that it appears to be native to Mars, which begs the question, what is this bright object?

In the days to come MSL will be examining the area throroughly, which will enable us to better determine what this object is. Stay tuned to find out!