Selfie image of the Curiosity Mars rover standing on the surface of Mars at the Rocknest site. The sand patch in front of the rover has a few small pits where Curiosity scraped away some sand for analysis.In the background to the right rises the prominent slope of Mount Sharp.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Simeon Schmauß
Tags: mars Curiosity NASA
This enhanced color panorama was taken by Curiosity's Left Mastcam after sunset on Sol 3724 (27 January, 2023). It shows an iridescent high altitude cloud, likely made from CO2 ices.
The sun has already set on the ground, but continues to illuminate this cloud which is likely at 60-80km altitude.
The iridescence (rainbow effect) is caused by diffraction at sub µm ice particles.
More information: doi.org/10.1029/2024GL111183
This panorama was stitched from 14 MAST_LEFT images from the PDS. The individual images were color calibrated to approximate what the human eye would see.
The panorama was further enhanced to emphasise cloud structure and subtle color variations.
See here for an unenhanced variant of the panorama: flic.kr/p/2qJwraX
LMST: Sol-03724M18:52:13
Sun: Az: 276.2 deg, El: -5.9 deg
Rationale: Characterize potentially iridescent ice clouds in twilight
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Simeon Schmauß
Tags: mars curiosity msl sky noctilucent clouds nacreous mother of pearl space nasa
Selfie image of the Curiosity Mars rover standing on the surface of Mars near a rock face called Mont Mercou. The slope of Mount Sharp rises towards the left and the rim of Gale crater can be seen in the distance behind the rover.
The MAHLI source images were color processed to approximately match what the human eye would see.
The sky was extended in Photoshop.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Simeon Schmauß
Tags: mars curiosity msl gale space mont mercou
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree selfie using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, at the end of its robotic arm. The selfie comprises 81 individual images taken on Nov. 20, 2021 – the 3,303rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
The rock structure behind the rover is "Greenheugh Pediment"; the hill that is middle distance on the right, is "Rafael Navarro Mountain." Curiosity is headed toward "Maria Gordon Notch," the U-shaped opening behind the rover to the left.
I reprocessed this panorama using images from the PDS (pds-imaging.jpl.nasa.gov/volumes/msl.html)
The sky was filled in using simulated sky images by Steve Albers: stevealbers.net/albers/allsky/mars.html
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Steve Albers/Simeon Schmauß
Tags: Mars Nasa Curiosity MSL space selfie