NASA's Curiosity rover has captured 'sun rays' on Mars for the first time, the agency says.
The moment was captured as the rover conducted a twilight cloud survey, building on previous observations of clouds. Previously recorded images of Martian clouds show them as being made of water ice and hovering no more 37 miles above Mars' surface. The new images captured by Curiosity appears to show clouds at a"higher altitude, where it's especially cold," NASA said, suggesting that the clouds are made of carbon dioxide ice, or dry ice.
Another photo, NASA said, shows a"feather-shaped iridescent cloud." That image, taken just after sunset on Jan. 27, helps provide scientists with information about the particle sizes within the clouds. Both photos, NASA said, were captured as panoramas,"each of which was stitched together from 28 images sent to Earth." The images"have been processed to emphasize the highlights," the agency said.
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover captured this feather-shaped iridescent cloud just after sunset on Jan. 27, 2023, the 3,724th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.Curiosity's previous cloud survey, conducted in 2021, used black-and-white navigation cameras to get a detailed look at the structure of moving clouds, but the more recent survey, which began in January, uses the rover's color camera to see how cloud particles grow over time, NASA said. The current survey will end in mid-March.
"As on Earth, clouds provide scientists with complex but crucial information for understanding the weather. By looking at when and where clouds form, scientists can learn more about the Martian atmosphere's composition and temperatures, and the winds within it," NASA said.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
NASA’s Curiosity Rover Views First Dazzling “Sun Rays” on MarsThe veteran Martian rover captured a dazzling sunset at the start of a new cloud-imaging campaign. Although Martian sunsets are uniquely moody, NASA’s Curiosity rover captured one last month that really stands out. As the Sun descended over the horizon on February 2, rays of light illuminated a b
Leer más »
This Week in Spaceflight: 3D-Printed Rocket Attempts First Flight, New NASA Artemis Insights, and MoreWe'll be following the inaugural launch of Japan's H3 rocket and a mysterious Russian mission.
Leer más »
SETI thinks AI could help rovers search for life on MarsTraining machine learning and artificial intelligence on vast geological datasets could help narrow our search for ET on other planets.
Leer más »
Government Contractor Lost Two NASA Satellites, Company AdmitsMistakes are bound to happen in rocket launches, but a massive one last summer resulted in a rocket launch company losing two NASA satellites.
Leer más »
Why Did NASA Retire the Space Shuttle?🔄From the archive: The Space Shuttle was NASA’s workhorse for 30 years. But despite all its features, it had some fatal flaws.
Leer más »
This Week @NASA: Navigating the Lunar Landscape, Wide View of the Universe, SpaceX Crew-6 LaunchThe next crew heads to the space station... Navigating the lunar landscape... And a view to look forward to... A few of the stories to tell you about – This Week at NASA! https://youtu.be/EuU34m_UT_g NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Launches to the Space Station A SpaceX Dragon spacecraft la
Leer más »