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Opportunity's Close-up of a Meteorite: 'Oileán Ruaidh' (False Color)

Oct. 5, 2010
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found this image of a meteorite. The science team used two tools on Opportunity's arm, the microscopic imager and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, to inspect the rock's texture and composition.

This is an image of the meteorite that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found and examined in September 2010.

Opportunity's cameras first revealed the meteorite in images taken on Sol 2363 (Sept. 16, 2010), the 2,363rd Martian day of the rover's mission on Mars. This view was taken with the panoramic camera on Sol 2371 (Sept. 24, 2010).

The science team used two tools on Opportunity's arm -- the microscopic imager and the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer -- to inspect the rock's texture and composition. Information from the spectrometer confirmed that the rock is a nickel-iron meteorite. The team informally named the rock "Oileán Ruaidh" (pronounced ay-lan ruah), which is the Gaelic name for an island off the coast of northwestern Ireland.

Opportunity departed Oileán Ruaidh and resumed its journey toward the mission's long-term destination, Endeavour Crater, on Sol 2374 (Sept. 28, 2010) with a drive of about 100 meters (328 feet).

The component images were taken through three Pancam filters admitting wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers. This view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see.

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