I was puzzled that the parachute seen in previous colour composites of the backshell appeared to have turned black. Also, the object is smaller in angular size, so perhaps further away (if the image is full resolution, of course).
So I did some simple trigonometry (I measured angles on the landing diagram).
The big crater is 12 degrees of arc in size, and covers about 80% of one of those diagonal slices of image. That makes each image ~ 15 degrees.
The object we're looking at is one image slice right of the big crater, so that's 15 degrees, and on Mike Malin's image map, the heatshield is placed 15 degrees clockwise (right) of the big crater.
The dark blob that looks like the parachute is probably the bounce mark.
QED.
Space/Science » in reply to re: Opportunity color panorama
That ain't the backshell, it's the heatshield!
