Night Heron/Bushy Rockrose/Cobbles

         The Opportunity rover acquired this three-part, false color mosaic on Sols 1965 (Aug. 3, 2009), 1967 (Aug. 5, 2009), and 1968 (Aug. 6, 2009).  At this point in its mission, Opportunity was driving south toward Endeavour Crater.  While stopped to investigate the meteorite named Block Island, Opportunity captured this small field of cobbles just behind the rover.  Aside from furthering the rover's ongoing search for cobbles (small rocks which give a variety of clues to changes in the Martian surface), the team was looking for pieces of meteorite which may have come from Block Island.  The rover's left wheel track can be seen in the rightmost frame.  This mosaic's field of view is roughly 35 degrees wide by 20 degrees high.
         This mosaic was created using Pancam's 753-nm, 535-nm, and 432-nm filters. Two versions are offered here at full resolution: an approximate true color rendering, and a false color stretch to bring out subtle color differences in the scene.

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
February 5, 2010