The Curiosity rover has its head in the Mars clouds

Since they landed in February, diligence and ingenuity have been the drone Captivate the eyes of the whole world. But let’s not forget the rover Curiosity who has been on the site for more than eight years and it continues its work for whatever reason … and a few days ago surprised the scientists.

Rare Martian clouds

The robot was actually able to take pictures of the clouds. On Mars, the atmosphere is nice and the humidity is rare, which is not trivial! Usually, these clouds are seen above the planet’s equator during the coldest time of the year (two Earth years), when the planet is far from the sun.

However, photos of the clouds taken by Curiosity confirm that their appearance came earlier than expected, which scientists had suspected for two years. They also learned that cloud formations occur at high altitudes, where it is very cold. They may contain frozen carbon dioxide.

If the images allow you to learn more about the process of creating clouds, they are spectacular and very simple! Especially the color photos taken by Curiosity Mastcam. The robot was able to take a picture of a different cloud, separating the ice crystals caused by differentiating the variation of light.

Curiosity was able to take the form of clouds, which glow when they are filled with crystals. They darken when the sun goes down below their height (which allows scientists to determine their height).