What does a day on Mars look like? NASA Curiosity captures stunning morning-to-sunset panorama

NASA has released a striking new panoramic image showing how the landscape on Mars looks from morning to evening.

The image was captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover while it was positioned near a sandy ridge known as “Chocolatal.” Two photographs taken at different times were combined to create a wider view of the Martian landscape.

Morning and sunset on Mars


The two images were taken at 9:56 am on August 29 and 5:39 pm on September 2, according to Mars time. After the photographs were transmitted to Earth, they were merged into a single panoramic view showing the landscape at different times of the day.

NASA added colour to the image to make the lighting conditions easier to understand. The blue tones on the right represent morning, while the yellow shades on the left represent the evening or sunset.

Curiosity is currently exploring the lower slopes of Mount Sharp, a mountain about three miles high located inside the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater.

The crater’s rim can be faintly seen on the horizon, while the camera was pointed towards the interior of the crater.

Curiosity marks 5,000th Martian day

One of the images was taken on Curiosity’s 5,000th Martian day, also known as a sol, since the rover began its mission.

A day on Mars is slightly longer than an Earth day, lasting about 39 minutes more.

The latest panorama follows another major image released by NASA last month. That picture was created from 323 individual photographs captured by Curiosity’s Mast Camera on August 1 and 2.

The images showed a valley called “Valle Grande”, with the rover’s tracks stretching into the distance and marking the path it had taken through the Martian terrain.

NASA also adjusted the colours in that panorama to represent how the scene might appear under Earth-like lighting conditions.

Curiosity continues its Mars mission

About the size of a car, Curiosity was built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and is operated from Pasadena, California.

The rover landed on Mars in 2012 and has been studying the planet’s surface in search of evidence that could help scientists understand whether Mars once had conditions suitable for microbial life.

Curiosity reached another milestone in August after climbing Mount Sharp and gaining about 1 kilometre in elevation.

The rover has also collected 42 powdered rock samples by drilling into the Martian surface with its robotic arm, providing scientists with material for studying the planet’s geological history.