The Mars exploration rover Curiosity has captured vibrant and impressive images of the morning and evening light on the surface of Mars.
The panoramic view of Marker Band Valley on Mars in the morning (right side) and evening (left side) was captured by the Curiosity rover on April 8, 2023. Photo: NASA
The robotic explorer used its black-and-white navigation camera to capture a panoramic view of Marker Band Valley on April 8 before departing from the location. One panoramic image was taken at 9:20 a.m., while the other was taken at 3:40 p.m., both according to the local time on Mars.
The black-and-white panorama captures the difference in the landscape at two different times of the day, with color added during post-processing by a team at NASA. The blue hue indicates the morning, while the yellow hue indicates the evening.
The image is reminiscent of another postcard-like snapshot captured by Curiosity in November 2021.
Doug Ellison, an engineer at Curiosity’s NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said, “Anyone who has been to a national park knows that the scenery in the morning is different from the scenery in the evening. Taking pictures at two different times of the day creates shadows because the light is coming from the left and right, much like you would have on a stage — but instead of stage lights, we rely on the Sun.”
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Wide-mouthed volcano in the southern hemisphere of Mars, June 2014. Photo: NASA
Ellison, the lead of the Mars rover imaging team, devised the plan for Curiosity to capture the panoramic images and process them to create the new mosaic.
Curiosity has been exploring the 5 km-high Mount Sharp at the center of Gale Crater since its landing in 2012. In the image, Marker Band Valley can be seen off the rover’s path, where the robot unexpectedly discovered evidence of an ancient lake.
The shadows are more pronounced in the image because the panorama was taken during winter at Gale Crater, when the dust in the atmosphere is closer to the surface.
“The shadows on Mars become sharper and deeper when there is less dust and softer when there is more dust,” Ellison explained.
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