Humanity has come a long way from considering Mars a god and even a pesky annoyance on horoscope to actually sending rovers there to study the red planet. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has for decades sents multiple rovers. Curiosity is in one of these rovers that are still on the Martian surface and sending invaluable pictures and videos back to Earth.
And the Martian ‘Dawn to Dusk’ video has become talk of the town now. Curiosity rover has captured a time-lapse video that shows the passage of time on a Martian day or ‘Sol’ as it is called. The silhouette of the rover is visible as well.
NASA has said that Curiosity’s Hazard-Avoidance Cameras detection cameras or Hazcams have been used to record the time-lapse video.
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The video was shot on November 8, which was the 4002nd Martian Day, or sol.
The Hazcams are usually used to detect any obstacles in Curiosity’s path and seldom for anything else. Obstacles like big rocks, slopes and so on may hinder the rover’s movement or it can even be a safety issue.
But Hazcams were used to make this video as Curiosity’s operations are temporarily being scaled-down in light of Mars solar conjunction.
Check out the video
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
Mars solar conjunction is a period when the Sun is between Mars and the Earth. Since solar plasma can interfere with radio communication between the rover and the Earth. Issuing fresh commands to the rover is temporarily stopped for several weeks.
The ‘dawn to dusk’ video was part of last few commands given before the conjunction.
The interesting bit is, that it was not the intention of the scientists to make a dawn-to-dusk video. The intention was to capture the Martian weather.
However, in this particular video, scientists did not see any notable weather phenomenon in the Martian atmosphere. But it made for an interesting watch nonetheless.
(With inputs from agencies)
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.
