Mars Jellyfish: A Tiny Pixel Artifact in Curiosity’s Image

A Curiosity image from August 20, 2023 in Gale Crater shows a tiny jellyfish-shaped dark spot on a distant hill, which disappears in a later exposure. Because it’s only about 15 pixels and appears in a single frame, the most likely explanation is an imaging artifact—potentially a cosmic-ray hit or electronic/transmission glitch—rather than a real Martian object. The lack of corroborating data (wind sensors, additional images) means the true cause can’t be confirmed, though a glitch is the leading explanation.