Space/Science — HabitableZone

Space/Science » in reply to re: "What color is Mars, anyway?"

Color is relative

In basic terms, I think it's accurate to state that the color of any object is determined by three factors:

a) The intensity of the illumination
b) The composition of the medium through which the light passes
c) The object's material

For Earth and Mars, a and b are known to be substantially different. c is variable.

Therefore, colors on Mars will be different from colors on Earth.

Adjusting image colors so that color strips on the rovers appear as they do on Earth will result in inaccurate representations of Martian colors.

Mars is an alien world. We should not expect that colors there will remind us of home. It's all in the eye of the beholder, which changes as we move through time and space.

S

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