Mastcam-Z’s First Martian Sunset
Mosaic created by Mark Lemmon
[Mosaic and text from NASA Photojournal posting PAI24935, online at https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24935]
This sunset on Mars was captured by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover using its Mastcam-Z camera system on Nov. 9, 2021, the 257th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
Martian sunsets typically stand out for their distinctive blue color. Fine dust in the atmosphere permits blue light to penetrate the atmosphere more efficiently than colors with longer wavelengths. But this sunset looks different: less dust in the atmosphere resulted in a more muted color than average. The color has been calibrated and white-balanced to remove camera artifacts.
November 10, 2021