NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover captured a stunning iridescent cloud and visible sun rays during sunset. This rainbow-like cloud lets scientists observe particle size within the clouds and how they grow over time. It was photographed as part of a follow-on imaging campaign to study noctilucent, or “night-shining” clouds.
What you see above are visible sun rays, the first ones that JPL’s Curiosity team has seen on Mars. Even though it may look like a single image, this scene is actually made up of 28 individual images captured by the rover’s Mast Camera, or Mastcam. Both images have been processed to emphasize the highlights.
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While most Martian clouds hover no more than 37 miles (60 kilometers) above the ground and are composed of water ice, these clouds appear to be higher in elevation, where it’s very cold. That suggests these clouds are made of carbon dioxide, or dry ice,” said NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
