{"id":901,"date":"2023-03-07T17:16:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/?p=901"},"modified":"2023-03-07T17:16:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-07T17:16:23","slug":"nasas-curiosity-views-first-sun-rays-on-mars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/news\/nasas-curiosity-views-first-sun-rays-on-mars\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Curiosity Views First \u2018Sun Rays\u2019 on Mars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Martian sunsets are\u00a0uniquely moody, but NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover captured one last month that stands out. As the Sun descended over the horizon on Feb. 2, rays of light illuminated a bank of clouds. These \u201csun rays\u201d are also known as crepuscular rays, from the Latin word for \u201ctwilight.\u201d It was the first time sun rays have been so clearly viewed on Mars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Curiosity captured the scene during the rover\u2019s newest twilight cloud survey, which builds on its\u00a02021 observations\u00a0of noctilucent, or night-shining, clouds. While most Martian clouds hover no more than 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the ground and are composed of water ice, the clouds in the latest images appear to be at a higher altitude, where it\u2019s especially cold. That suggests these clouds are made of carbon dioxide ice, or dry ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s composition and temperatures, and the winds within it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 2021 cloud survey included more imaging by Curiosity\u2019s black-and-white navigation cameras, providing a detailed look at a cloud\u2019s structure as it moves. But the recent survey, which began in January and will wrap up in mid-March, relies more often on the rover\u2019s color Mast Camera, or Mastcam, which helps scientists see how cloud particles grow over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the image of sun rays, Curiosity captured a set of colorful clouds shaped like a feather on Jan. 27. When illuminated by sunlight, certain types of clouds can create a rainbowlike display called iridescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/thumbnails\/image\/e1-pia25740-curiosity-views-feather-shaped-1041.jpg\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/full_width\/public\/thumbnails\/image\/e1-pia25740-curiosity-views-feather-shaped-1041.jpg?itok=fd7WC3h0\" alt=\"This feather-shaped iridescent cloud was captured just after sunset\nCuriosity\" title=\"\"\/><\/a><figcaption>This feather-shaped iridescent cloud was captured just after sunset on Jan. 27, 2023, the 3,724th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity\u2019s mission. Studying the colors in iridescent clouds tells scientists something about particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhere we see iridescence, it means a cloud\u2019s particle sizes are identical to their neighbors in each part of the cloud,\u201d said Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. \u201cBy looking at color transitions, we\u2019re seeing particle size changing across the cloud. That tells us about the way the cloud is evolving and how its particles are changing size over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Curiosity captured both the sun rays and iridescent clouds as panoramas, each of which was stitched together from 28 images sent to Earth. The images have been processed to emphasize the highlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We recommend you: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/general-dereum\/workshop-design-the-future-of-space\/\">Workshop: Design the future of space<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/jpl\/nasa-s-curiosity-views-first-sun-rays-on-mars\">NASA\u2019s Curiosity Views First \u2018Sun Rays\u2019 on Mars | NASA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martian sunsets are\u00a0uniquely moody, but NASA\u2019s Curiosity rover captured one last month that stands out. As the Sun descended over the horizon on Feb. 2, rays of light illuminated a bank of clouds. These \u201csun rays\u201d are also known as crepuscular rays, from the Latin word for \u201ctwilight.\u201d It was the first time sun rays [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[56,55,24,279],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":903,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901\/revisions\/903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dereumlabs.com\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}