UV-Excited Fluorescence of Rocks in Gale Crater, Mars

Abstract:

Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory rover, landed in Gale crater in 2012. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), located on Curiosity’s robotic arm, can be placed as close as 0.2 cm from targets. At this distance it has a pixel scale of ~13 µm/pixel. MAHLI usually images in daylight, but light emitting diodes (LEDs) located around the lens make nighttime imaging possible. Two of the six LEDs produce 365 nm long wave UV and near-UV light and small amounts of green and red light.

On Mars MAHLI has taken images of UV-illuminated rocks, drill tailings, and a fluorescent calibration standard. In a lab test bed we took images of UV-illuminated terrestrial minerals. The test bed UV LEDs are equivalent to those on MAHLI. Fluorescence in the test bed was inferred when the color of the mineral in UV light was shifted from the color of the reflected incident UV light on non-fluorescing targets. We demonstrate this shift with terrestrial minerals: willemite (ZnSiO₄) is green, fluorite (CaF₂) is blue, fluorapatite (Ca₅(PO₄)₃F) is yellow, and (some) calcites are red (Figure). Bassanite (CaSO₄•½H₂O) has been identified in sedimentary rock in Gale, and under long wave UV illumination, terrestrial bassanite fluoresces blue. In addition to bassanite, fluorite and apatite are candidate minerals in Gale crater.

Portions of a bassanite-bearing target in Gale appear to fluoresce blue under MAHLI UV illumination. Adjacent to the bassanite is a dark mineral that yields a signal with more blue and less red and green than the bassanite suggesting a second fluorescing mineral. If these findings are supported by additional MAHLI and test bed measurements, then this will be the first fluorescence detection of its kind on Mars. This will be a step toward using UV light for the detection of organic compounds as has been proposed for the Mars 2020 mission.