Marte |
The Curiosity rover has managed to capture the clearest images of these rays during a sunset on Mars. The phenomenon might help scientists better understand the Red Planet’s climate and atmosphere.
The NASA has published on Monday (03.06.2023) the clearest images so far of some “solar rays” visible in a cloud during a sunset on the planet Marte.
On February 2, the rover Curiosity made a panoramic capture of 28 individual images of a crepuscular cloud phenomenon, which has been recorded since January and will end in mid-March.
Visible rays at sunrise and sunset
“It was the first time that the sun’s rays were seen so clearly on Mars,” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team members wrote in a statement.
These solar rays, also known as crepuscular rays, are produced when sunlight shines through gaps or holes in the clouds, both during sunrise and sunset.
Solar rays from Mars captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover.
Paler Colors on Mars
On Earth, this phenomenon can be observed in foggy conditions, when light is scattered by smoke, dust, and other atmospheric particles. In marsthe sun’s rays are much whiter in color because the planet has a thinner atmosphere, so sunlight is not scattered as much as it is on Earth.
“By looking at the color transitions, we see that the size of the particles change throughout the cloud. That tells us how the cloud evolves and how its particles change in size over time,” said Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist at the Institute. of Space Sciences of Boulder (Colorado).
Help to study the climate and atmosphere of Mars
According to at NASAthe clouds visible on Mars are composed of water ice crystals and carbon dioxide, and are usually no more than 60 kilometers from the ground.
However, scientists believe that, on this occasion, the Martian clouds were at a much higher altitude and where it would be much colder, which would have allowed Curiosity to record the phenomenon in such detail.
The images are invaluable to researchers, as they allow astronomers to determine what material or substance the clouds are made of, and to better understand the atmosphere and climate of Mars.
Edited by José Ignacio Urrejola
