Leopard Spots

  • Released Friday, June 6, 2025
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Perseverance Rover's images a rock with 'Leopard Spots'

Since landing on Mars on February 18, 2021, NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover has been searching for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover has been taking images and collecting samples that will characterize the planet's geology and past climate and pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet.

On July 18. 2024, the rover captured this image of a rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls". Between two white calcium sulfate veins are bands of material whose reddish color suggests the presence of hematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its distinctive rusty hue. Scientists are particularly interested in the millimeter-size, irregularly shaped light patches on the central reddish band (from lower left to upper right of the image) that are surrounded by a thin ring of dark material, akin to leopard spots. Spotting of this type on sedimentary terrestrial rocks can occur when chemical reactions involving hematite turn the rock from red to white. Those reactions can also release iron and phosphate, possibly causing the black halos to form, and they can be an energy source for microbes, hence the association between such features and microbes in a terrestrial setting.

These images and videos were prepared for use on NASA's Hyperwall from content originally published at photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov, science.nasa.gov, and jpl.nasa.gov

A video explaining the features seen in the rock for sample 25.

The 25th Martian sample collected by NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover – “Sapphire Canyon” – a sample taken from a vein-filled rock named “Cheyava Falls” contains compelling features that may help answer whether Mars was home to microscopic life in the distant past.

https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-2020-perseverance/mars-rock-samples/

This is a photo of a rock with millimeter-size, irregularly shaped light patches that are surrounded by a thin ring of dark material, akin to leopard spots.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of a rock on July 18, 2024.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured this image of a rock nicknamed "Cheyava Falls" on July 18, 2024, the 1,212th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Running the length of the rock are large white calcium sulfate veins. Between those veins are bands of material whose reddish color suggests the presence of hematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its distinctive rusty hue. Scientists are particularly interested in the millimeter-size, irregularly shaped light patches on the central reddish band (from lower left to upper right of the image) that are surrounded by a thin ring of dark material, akin to leopard spots. Spotting of this type on sedimentary terrestrial rocks can occur when chemical reactions involving hematite turn the rock from red to white. Those reactions can also release iron and phosphate, possibly causing the black halos to form, and they can be an energy source for microbes, hence the association between such features and microbes in a terrestrial setting.

The white, knobby material seen on either side of the spots is dotted with a few green olivine crystals, which form in igneous rocks such as lava flows. It's unknown whether the olivine formed at the same time as the leopard spots; scientists hope to establish a timeline for when both the olivine and the spots formed.

https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26368

Credits

  • Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
  • Video Credit: NASA

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This page was originally published on Friday, June 6, 2025.
This page was last updated on Friday, June 6, 2025 at 4:05 PM EDT.