… that is to say, it looks like Curiosity is getting “curiouser and curiouser” about this formation, named “Shaler” by JPL .  This symmetrically composed ( by Curiosity ) panorama is a closer in shot of the panorama I posted in “Navcam vs. Mastcam”, the composition being determined by the choice of view for the 33 raw images from sol 120 that I used with PTgui to get the panorama. It is 3 tiers of 11 images each.

The previous panorama from sol 113 was, by comparison, skewed so I’m not sure what goes into Curiosity’s view selection. This sol 120 panorama is also closer in, which is why it is curved. Actually, PTgui wanted to make it into almost a semicircle, but it let’s you bend it around with a cursor drag in a final edit, so I straightened it some.

Looking at the sol 113 panorama, you can see that Curiosity moved ahead and to the right in the 7 sols since, and the new view is looking back to the left from the closer in spot.

It’s a fascinating formation, but I don’t know what the brains behind Curiosity have in mind with this lengthy inspection, not that I’m complaining. It certainly provides enchantment to us fans.