Perseverance spots an odd rock on Mars with zebra stripes. Where did it come from?

The Perseverance rover has spotted a black-and-white striped rock on Mars, amazing scientists and the general public. The rover made the discovery while climbing the steep slopes of the Jezero Crater and marching towards its rim. While the initial ascent was slower, Perseverance is now moving remarkably faster and has cruised along a flatter stretch.

While the roverwas travelling through a pebbly terrain of Jezero, team members spotted a cobble in the distance that looked unusual. Low-resolution Navcam images showed that it likely had an unusual texture. They named it Freya Castle and planned a multispectral observation using the Mastcam-Z camera.

After the Perseverance rover had moved on in its journey, data downlinked a couple of days later surprised the researchers. Clearer photos of the rock showed that Freya Castle is around 20 cm across in size and has alternating black and white stripes. The picture has created a frenzy as people are intrigued to know more about this "zebra rock".

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Scientists say that the rock is unlike any other ever found not only in the Jezero Crater but all of Mars. While they are not sure of its chemical composition, as per early interpretations igneous and/or metamorphic processes could have created its stripes.

The Freya Castle is a lone stone and completelydifferent from the underlying bedrock. Experts think that the rock likely rolled downhill from somewhere higher where more such rocks might be present.

Also Read:Curiosity rover cuts open rock on Mars, spilling out an unexpected secret

As Perseverance continues to travel upwards, scientists are excited by what more it might find. Finding more such rocks will help them acquire more detailed measurements.

Sulfur in Mars rocks

This is not the first time that a fascinating rock has been found on Mars. The vicinity of the crater rim had earlier presented an increased variety of rocks, such as the diverse collection of boulders at Mount Washburn.

A few weeks back, Curiosity Rover drove over some stones, cracking open one of them and yellow sulfur crystal tumbled out, a first for the red planet.

“Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” Curiosity’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said.