PIA12193: 'Block Island' Meteorite on Mars, Sol 1961 (False Color)
This view of a rock called 'Block Island,' the largest meteorite yet found on Mars, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Panoramic Camera 
 Product Size:  2620 x 1851 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Cornell University 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12193.tif (14.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12193.jpg (430.1 kB)  

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This view of a rock called "Block Island," the largest meteorite yet found on Mars, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

Analysis of Block Island's composition using the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer confirmed that it is rich in iron and nickel. The rock is about 60 centimeters (2 feet) across.

This is a false-color, red-green-blue composite view generated from images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The exaggerated color is used for enhancing the visibility of differences among the types of rock and soil materials.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell

Image Addition Date:
2009-08-06