NASA's Curiosity Rover Captures First Clear Images Of Sun Rays On Mars
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After a decade of exploring the surface of the Red Planet, the Curiosity rover has recently been looking up. On February 2, 2023, the NASA rover captured a stunning sunset on Mars. The image shows rays of sunlight stretching across the horizon, lighting up a mass of clouds.
"It was the first time sun rays have been so clearly viewed on Mars," team members from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) wrote in a statement.
The sun rays captured in the image are also known as crepuscular rays. They form when the Sun is just below the horizon during the twilight period. This could be either at sunrise or sunset.
On Earth, these sun rays usually appear red or yellow. That's because the particles in our thick atmosphere act like a prism, breaking the sunlight into seven colors. The shorter wavelengths that produce colors like blue and green get scattered the most. Hence, the light that reaches our eyes is mainly the longer wavelengths that produce yellow and red. However, the thin atmosphere on Mars does not scatter the sunlight as much. As a result, the Sun's rays appear much more white.
Curiosity also captured a set of colorful clouds shaped like a feather on January 27, 2023. When illuminated by sunlight, certain types of clouds can create a rainbow-like display. It is called iridescence. Studying the colors in these clouds allows scientists to learn about particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time.
The cloud images collected by Curiosity have a scientific purpose. They will provide scientists better insights into weather patterns and conditions on the Red Planet.
Resources: JPL.NASA.gov, CNN.com, Livescience.com
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86 Comments
lol884 monthsI Love this!!
913722hps4 monthsThis is a very cool discovery
lee1235 monthsIs that even possible? I've been questioning our technology for a while.
iceyqueen5 monthsIt must have took lots of high tech technology to be able to see the sun rays from mars!
queen_squid6 monthsAwesome!
zuccabella20146 monthsDid any of you know that there were two identical rovers that once went in Mars named Spirit and Opportunity? There were supposed to live only 90 days but actually lived for much longer than that. Spirit lost connection first. But they both lived 7-11 years!- iceyqueen5 monthsActually, I knew about that since my cousin's dad was part of making and designing Opportunity.
rasejogepufu6 monthsWe make stuff to get all the info about space.
slay-girl6 monthswhy does it look like a feather?- hipeople2276 monthsSo cool
makima6 monthsI wish I was that robot
kylah20126 monthswell to bad 😈