For the first time since its launch in 2011, the Curiosity rover has just immortalized a sunset on Mars, NASA announced Tuesday. For more than a decade, the rover has been roaming the ground of the Red Planet to analyze its environment and look for signs of life. However, it was as part of a new study on twilight clouds that he was able to capture this unprecedented image on February 2.


I've got sunshine on a cloudy day. 🎶

For the first time, @MarsCuriosity spotted some of the clearest sunrays ever seen on the Red Planet. These images reveal new findings about the weather on Mars: https://t.co/lwmbmecl8J pic.twitter.com/ah60UWsnf8

— NASA (@NASA) March 6, 2023

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It depicts a bank of clouds illuminated by rays of light, as the sun sets on the horizon. This observation is all the more interesting because Martian clouds composed of water ice rarely rise to more than 60 km altitude, which seems to be the case here.

Feather-shaped clouds

Therefore, NASA believes that they could be made of carbon dioxide ice or dry ice. A discovery that should allow researchers to learn more about the local climate, including cloud formation and the composition of the Martian atmosphere.




Already in 2021, Curiosity had captured black and white images of noctilucidal clouds, that is to say that shine at night. These images had allowed scientists to study the structure of these suspended masses. The twilight cloud study began in January and will end in mid-March. On January 27, the rover's Mastcam had already captured a set of iridescent clouds in the shape of feathers. An iridescence that is visible when the particles composing the cloud are of the same size.

  • Sciences
  • Nasa
  • March
  • Curiosity
  • Sun
  • Space