The discovery of an unusual rock sample, named Sapphire Canyon, by NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance in 2024 has sent shockwaves of excitement through the scientific community. This enigmatic rock features striking white spots with black borders within a red mudstone, sparking hopes that it might hold clues about the presence of organic molecules on Mars.

To unlock the secrets hidden within Sapphire Canyon, researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology employed an innovative technique called optical photothermal infrared spectroscopy (O-PTIR). This method uses two lasers to study a material’s chemical properties, creating its unique fingerprint by measuring thermal vibrations on its surface.

The team, led by Nicholas Heinz, put O-PTIR to the test on a basalt rock with dark inclusions of similar size to Sapphire Canyon’s. By chance, Heinz stumbled upon this visually similar rock while hiking in Arizona’s Sedona region. The results were astounding – O-PTIR proved to be an extremely effective tool for differentiating between the primary material and its dark inclusions.

One of the key advantages of O-PTIR is its enhanced spatial resolution, allowing scientists to pinpoint specific regions of interest within a sample. Additionally, this technique is remarkably rapid, with each spectrum collection taking mere minutes. This enables researchers to apply more sensitive techniques to study areas containing potential organics in greater detail.

Heinz expressed his hope that the capabilities of O-PTIR will be considered for future Martian samples, as well as those from asteroids and other planetary surfaces. The team’s expertise is currently the only one available at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, having previously assisted with confirming the cleanliness of the Europa Clipper mission prior to its launch.

As the scientific community continues to unravel the mysteries hidden within Sapphire Canyon, Heinz and his team are working closely with NASA’s Mars science team to test O-PTIR on algal microfossils typically used as Mars analogs for the rovers. This breakthrough technique is poised to revolutionize our understanding of Martian geology and potentially uncover signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.

The latest high-resolution panorama captured by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has revealed some of the clearest images yet taken on the Red Planet. The stunning mosaic, which was stitched together from 96 individual images, showcases a breathtaking Martian landscape featuring ancient terrain, mysterious rock formations, and vast distances stretching out to the horizon.

The imaging team took advantage of clear skies to capture one of the sharpest panoramas of the mission so far. Visible in the enhanced-color version is a boundary line between two geologic units, with lighter-toned rocks rich in olivine giving way to darker clay-bearing rocks farther away. The transition from one unit to another is marked by a sweeping line that stretches across the image.

One of the most intriguing features of the mosaic is a large rock that appears to sit atop a dark, crescent-shaped sand ripple near the center of the image. Geologists call this type of rock a “float rock” because it was likely formed elsewhere and transported to its current location. The science team suspects that this particular float rock arrived before the sand ripple formed.

The bright white circle just left of center and near the bottom of the image is an abrasion patch, created by the rover’s drill as it prepared for a sample collection mission. This is the 43rd rock Perseverance has abraded since landing on Mars, with two inches (5 centimeters) wide shallow patches enabling the science team to see what lies beneath the weathered surface.

As the rover journeyed towards its current location, it left behind tracks that can be seen winding their way towards the horizon. About 300 feet (90 meters) away, they veer to the left and disappear from sight at a previous geologic stop called “Kenmore.”

The Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars since February 2021, with its Mastcam-Z instrument capturing stunning images of the Martian terrain. The relatively dust-free skies have provided a clear view of the surrounding landscape, accentuating the differences in terrain and sky.

“This is just a glimpse of what we’ll soon witness with our own eyes,” said Sean Duffy, acting NASA administrator, referring to future human space exploration missions that will propel astronauts back to the Moon and eventually to the Martian surface. “NASA’s groundbreaking missions, starting with Artemis, will take human space exploration to new heights.”

The search for exoplanets has been a thrilling adventure in recent years, with scientists using various methods to detect worlds beyond our solar system. One such method involves observing the light emitted by stars, which can be affected by the presence of planets. In the case of the Alpha Centauri star system, located just 4 light-years away from Earth, astronomers have been trying to confirm the existence of a giant planet orbiting one of its three stars.

Using the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers have found strong evidence of a possible gas giant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri A. The observations were made in August 2024 and February 2025, using the coronagraphic mask aboard MIRI to block the light from Alpha Centauri A. While the initial detection was exciting, additional observations in April 2025 did not reveal any objects like the one identified in August 2024.

To investigate this mystery, researchers used computer models to simulate millions of potential orbits, incorporating the knowledge gained when they saw the planet and when they did not. These simulations suggested that the planet could be a gas giant approximately the mass of Saturn, orbiting Alpha Centauri A in an elliptical path varying between one to two times the distance between the Sun and Earth.

While the existence of this planet is still uncertain, it would mark a new milestone for exoplanet imaging efforts if confirmed. The potential planet seen in the Webb image of Alpha Centauri A would be the closest to its star seen so far, and its very existence in a system of two closely separated stars would challenge our understanding of how planets form, survive, and evolve in chaotic environments.

The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory, and its MIRI instrument was developed through a 50-50 partnership between NASA and ESA. The telescope is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it.

If confirmed by additional observations, the team’s results could transform the future of exoplanet science. This would become a touchstone object for exoplanet science, with multiple opportunities for detailed characterization by Webb and other observatories. NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch by May 2027, is equipped with dedicated hardware that will test new technologies to observe binary systems like Alpha Centauri in search of other worlds.