While sunsets on Mars have unique moods, the NASA Curiosity rover was able to snap one sunset last February that was distinct from the rest. More specifically, visible sun rays were captured for the first time during this sunset on Mars.
Visible Sun Rays Seen on the Red Planet For the First Time
According to Futurism, these sun rays are also referred to as crepuscular rays, which comes from the Latin translation for the word "twilight." This was the first time for specialists to clearly observe visible sun rays on Mars.
Well, this is a first... 😍
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) March 6, 2023
As I watched the sunset last month, I captured something spectacular: My team says these are some of the most clearly visible images of sun rays we've ever seen on Mars! pic.twitter.com/HIgzZHdAyV
The NASA Curiosity rover snapped the scene during the recent twilight cloud survey of the rover. This survey is specifically built on the 2021 observations of clouds that shine in the Martian night sky. Though most clouds on Mars are made of water ice and hover above the ground at a rough height of 37 miles, the snaps of these clouds reveal that the objects were situated at higher altitudes where temperatures are quite low. This proposes that the clouds comprise dry ice or carbon dioxide ice.
Clouds offer specialists an important and complex understanding of the weather. By examining where and when such clouds form, specialists get to know more about the temperature, composition, and winds of the Martian atmosphere.
The cloud survey from 2021 covered more imaging conducted by the black-and-white navigation cameras of the rover. This offered an in-depth view of the structure of the clouds while the objects were moving.
However, the recent survey, which started in January and will be finished by mid-March, depends more on the colored Mast Camera, or Mastcam, of the rover. This camera helps specialists see the growth of cloud particles as time passes.
Iridescence
The rare sun rays were not the only snap of the rover. Last January 27, the Curiosity rover was able to snap an iridescent cloud that was feather-shaped. According to Mark Lemmon, who is a planetary scientist from the Space Science Institute, when iridescence is observed, this means that the sizes of cloud particles are the same as their neighbors across the cloud.
The Curiosity rover captured this feather-shaped iridescent cloud over Mars. pic.twitter.com/5nZtAMOiDD
— Brian Roemmele (@BrianRoemmele) March 7, 2023
He mentions that, when examining transitions in color, they get to see the changing of particle sizes within the cloud. This reveals the evolution of the cloud as well as its particle size alterations as time passes.
CBS News reports that both shots were panoramic. Each one was combined from 28 different shots sent to earth. The images were also processed further to stress the highlights.
NASA Curiosity Rover
As part of the Mars Science Laboratory mission of NASA, the Curiosity rover is reportedly the most capable and biggest rover deployed to the red planet. It was deployed on November 26, 2011, and landed on the red planet on August 5, 2012.
The rover embarked on a mission to see if Mars ever harbored the necessary environmental conditions to support microbial life.
The Curiosity rover was made by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA. The lab is specifically managed by Caltech in California.
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