When Curiosity isn’t moving around on Mars, it can work a bit like a sundial. It used its front and rear black-and-white cameras, called Hazcams, to take pictures. These cameras captured about 12 hours of a Martian day or ‘Sol’ as they are known, showing the rover’s shadow on the ground. It’s pretty intriguing because you can see how the shadow changes as the day goes by.
Before this break started, scientists sent instructions to the Curiosity rover to take these videos and checked in regularly to make sure the rover was doing okay.
Usually, the rover uses its Hazcams to avoid rocks and other dangers when driving. But since Curiosity was taking it easy before the break, scientists decided to use these cameras to take pictures and hope to see clouds or dust devils, which could tell us more about Mars’ weather.
After the break, when the images came back to Earth, scientists didn’t see any special weather. But they did make two videos using the pictures. These videos show how the shadow of Curiosity changes from morning to afternoon to evening, covering the time from 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mars time.
During sunrise, the rover’s shadow moves, and you can see its front wheels and a calibration target. NASA wrote, “Engineers use the target to test the accuracy of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, an instrument that detects chemical elements on the Martian surface.”
As the day goes on, the camera’s exposure changes, making the images look different. At night, the exposure time is longer, which causes some white spots in the final picture.
Even though scientists didn’t find any interesting weather, these videos helped them see how time passed on Mars and how the rover’s shadow changed throughout the day.
Regarding the video, NASA also wrote on their website “These images have been re-projected to correct the wide-angle lenses of the Hazcams. The speckled appearance of the images, especially prominent in the rear-camera video, is due to 11 years of Martian dust settling on the lenses.”
Watch the video here:
Hey look – I’m a sundial!
Ok, not exactly, but I did get a sol to enjoy my surroundings. During solar conjunction, I used my hazard cameras to study the Martian weather and dust.
As this Earth year comes to an end, I hope you’ll take the time to soak in what’s around you. pic.twitter.com/eCQAcVtT1L
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) December 28, 2023
Shambhu Kumar is a science communicator, making complex scientific topics accessible to all. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.