(ORDO NEWS) — On the 3724th Martian day of its work on the surface of the Red Planet, the Curiosity rover photographed the amazing “crepuscular rays” for the first time.
A rare image and its description are presented on the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory website.
Veteran rover Curiosity has captured a sunset on Mars like no one has ever seen before. Previous images have indicated that sunsets on Mars are a rather grim sight.
However, on January 27, 2023, as the Sun sank below the horizon of the Red Planet, the rays illuminated a bank of clouds over the surface of Mars.
The result was a phenomenon known to astronomers as “crepuscular rays”.
It was this moment that was captured using a highly sensitive camera installed on board the rover. “Twilight rays” are photographed so clearly on Mars for the first time.
Back in 2021, Curiosity made observations of noctilucent and nighttime clouds as part of its twilight cloud study.
However, at that time the images were obtained using black-and-white navigation cameras, which, better than other instruments, allowed us to see in detail the structure of each cloud as it moved.
The new study started in January 2023 and will run until mid-March. It uses the capabilities of the Mastcam color camera on board the rover.
The images she took should help scientists track how cloud particles grow over time.
One of the best shots was taken by Curiosity on January 27, the 3724th Sol (Martian day) of the mission, when the rover captured a set of multi-colored feather-shaped clouds.
When illuminated by sunlight, some types of these clouds can create an iridescent glow. Preliminary calculations suggest that these clouds are likely composed of carbon dioxide or dry ice.
They differ from other clouds on Mars in the height of their location. Scientists note that most Martian clouds hover at a height of no more than 60 kilometers above the surface and consist of water ice.
However, the clouds captured in the latest images of the rover are at an even higher altitude, where it is very cold.
“Where we see iridescence, this means that the particle sizes of the cloud are identical to the sizes of their neighbors in each part of the cloud,” explains study co-author Mark Lemmon from the Space Science Institute in Boulder.
“Looking at the color transitions, we see a change in particle size in the cloud “This tells us how the cloud develops and how its particles change size over time.”
Curiosity captured both the sun’s “twilight rays” and iridescent clouds as panoramas, each compiled from 28 images sent back to Earth by the rover, he said.
The general public was presented not original, but processed images, which allows you to get the best visualization.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.