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| Latest photographs from the Curiosity rover in Gale crater on the surface of Mars |
If you go out after midnight on a clear night in March or April of this year and look between south and southeast a little above the horizon, you will see a new bright pink star in the constellation of Virgo. It is however a planet, not a star, the red planet Mars. In April, Mars will be at opposition, that is at its closest to the Earth.
I hope to take some photographs of Mars through my telescope and if successful I will post them on this blog.
In the meantime I created this collage of images taken from the NASA website.
The top panorama shows the Mastcam view taken by the Mars rover Curiosity as it approached a sand dune which spans 'Dingo Gap' in Gale Crater. The image was recorded on the 28th January 2014.
The bottom panorama shows an outcrop of rocks named 'Junda' which Curiosity passed on February 19. Mount Sharp in the centre of Gale Crater can be seen behind the outcrop.
Centre left is an image taken by Curiosity looking up and over the crater rim. The bright star like point of light shown in this image is in fact our planet Earth. Just below it is a fainter point of light our Moon.
Centre left is an image of rock with crystals clearly visible. The rover is equipped with a range of visualisation and analysis equipment. The crystals are of feldspar in a pyroxene matrix typical of basaltic igneous rocks on Earth. "This texture provides compelling evidence for igneous rocks at Gale Crater".
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| Starmap South March 2014 Midnight |
Credits: NASA /JPL CALTECH MSSS and Starmap Pro.
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