Planet Four Talk

This Was a Difficult One : Fans, Blotches, Blue Frost, and Araneiform Features

  • msc386 by msc386

    This one was difficult to classify; however, upon closer examination of the imagery, it was possible to discern some interesting surface features, even though they were not readily apparent at first glance. In the center of this image there is a deposit of what appears to be blue frost; to the north (and ever so slightly) west are four fans and and one or two blotches. South and west of the "Blue Frost" are what appear to be araneiform features. Upon closer examination, the "Blue Frost" deposit also appears to contain a fan or two, but weather-vaning in different directions.

    The thinness of the fans and blotches, along with the lack of contrast in the deposited material from the venting would suggest that surface wind velocity was sufficient to preclude the deposit of more material at the time these features were formed. It should also be noted that the fans, blotches, blue frost, and araneiform features appear to be down-slope (North / South, respectively) either side of a ridge (running NorthEast to SouthWest) in (the context of) this image.

    What is truly compelling in this image (once again) is the appearance of the blue frost. While this not a truly objective statement in the name of science, one cannot help but be captivated by the appearance of this material, regardless of the context. For some reason, it becomes more interesting with each time it is encountered in the image data.

    Discussion / Commentary is invited.

    Posted

  • p.titchin by p.titchin in response to msc386's comment.

    Whoh! 😃 'Blue frost' !! Search and read! Is it down to colour manipulation of the camera info, the software giving us the surface mages, light diffraction of old deposits sinking into the surface, or new venting, all possibly altered by the above processing. As far as I can tell as a fellow citizen scientist, the jury is out, but is of extreme interest to all the P4 folk. Watch this space, but meanwhile, the images can be beautiful. 😃 . ~ Pete

    Posted

  • msc386 by msc386 in response to p.titchin's comment.

    Thanks, Pete. It was fun to work on this image.

    Posted

  • p.titchin by p.titchin in response to msc386's comment.

    Seriously msc, click on 'search' on the P4 toolbar on the pagetop. type in 'blue', or blue frost', and explore the results of discussions and images. Im sure you will enjoy! I hope You have some time free to get involved!!~Pete

    Posted

  • msc386 by msc386 in response to p.titchin's comment.

    Pete,
    Thank-you for the invitation, I think I will take your advice and go exploring. This blue ice is really
    becoming quite intriguing; and I definitely want to be in the hunt for some more of it.
    --msc386

    Posted

  • Kitharode by Kitharode moderator in response to msc386's comment.

    Hi msc. You might already have seen this blog post, but if not then it'll be right up your street. The whole post is interesting, but about halfway down it focusses on blue frost fans. Enjoy. http://blog.planetfour.org/2014/09/10/a-summary-of-a-p4-summer/

    Posted

  • mschwamb by mschwamb scientist, translator in response to msc386's comment.

    There's also a nice description of the theories about the blue written by Michael Aye from the science team that you can read here.

    Cheers,

    ~Meg

    Posted