Astronomers -- even skeptical ones with a sense of humor and an eye for pareidolia -- can miss things. In this case, I can hardly believe I somehow dropped the pigskin on this one.
Wow. I mean really, wow!
The thing is, I was so drawn to the dunes that I missed something that, in retrospect, makes moi a bit of a fool. Look to the middle right; see that raised dome? Yeah? Well, look a little closer:
See it? Maybe this comparison will help vous.
It’s so obvious! And what makes it worse is as soon as I saw it I knew why it was there… all you have to do is look at this image of the Martian surface taken by the Viking 1 orbiter back in the 1970s…
It’s all clear to me now. It’s not easy being red.
Sigh. Pareidolia is certainly subjective, of course, but ...
