MARTIAN SUNSET
Published on May 11, 2015
Ever wonder what a sunset looks like on Mars?
NASA's Curiosity Mars
rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the
mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location
in Gale Crater.
rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the
mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location
in Gale Crater.
The four images shown in
sequence here were taken over a span of 6 minutes, 51 seconds.
sequence here were taken over a span of 6 minutes, 51 seconds.
This was the first
sunset observed in color by Curiosity. The images come from the left-eye
camera of the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam). The color has been calibrated and
white-balanced to remove camera artifacts. Mastcam sees color very similarly to
what human eyes see, although it is actually a little less sensitive to blue
than people are.
sunset observed in color by Curiosity. The images come from the left-eye
camera of the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam). The color has been calibrated and
white-balanced to remove camera artifacts. Mastcam sees color very similarly to
what human eyes see, although it is actually a little less sensitive to blue
than people are.
Dust in the Martian
atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the
atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors. That causes
the blue colors in the mixed light coming from the sun to stay closer to sun's
part of the sky, compared to the wider scattering of yellow and red colors. The
effect is most pronounced near sunset, when light from the sun passes through a
longer path in the atmosphere than it does at mid-day.
atmosphere has fine particles that permit blue light to penetrate the
atmosphere more efficiently than longer-wavelength colors. That causes
the blue colors in the mixed light coming from the sun to stay closer to sun's
part of the sky, compared to the wider scattering of yellow and red colors. The
effect is most pronounced near sunset, when light from the sun passes through a
longer path in the atmosphere than it does at mid-day.
Malin Space Science
Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity
rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.
Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science
Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity
rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.
Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Last Updated: May 11, 2015
Editor: Tony Greicius
tags: Mars,
Curiosity, Sunset, Science, Laboratory, Technology, Gale, Crater, Sky, Space,
UFO, Alien, Blue
Curiosity, Sunset, Science, Laboratory, Technology, Gale, Crater, Sky, Space,
UFO, Alien, Blue
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