'Round rock' found on Mars by NASA's Curiosity Rover

Zee Media Bureau

Washington: A spherical rock has been found on the Martian land, atop a rocky outcrop by NASA's Curiosity Rover.

The rock which was dusty, seemed like an old cannonball or possibly a dirty golf ball. It appeared a little darker than the surrounding rock.

The ball isn't as big as it looks - it's approximately one centimeter wide, according to MSL scientists based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. Their explanation is that it is most likely something known as a "concretion."

On the Martian surface, other examples of concretions have been found before. For example the tiny haematite concretions, or "blueberries", were observed by Mars rover Opportunity in 2004. They were created during sedimentary rock formation, when Mars was abundant with liquid water many million years ago.