Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human? Then you might be the robotic Curiosity rover currently exploring Mars. Curiosity landed in Gale Crater last August and has been busy looking for signs of ancient running water and clues that Mars could once have harbored life. Pictured above, Curiosity has taken a wide panorama that includes its own shadow in the direction opposite the Sun. The image was taken in November from a location dubbed Point Lake, although no water presently exists there. Curiosity has already discovered several indications of dried streambeds on Mars, and is scheduled to continue its exploration by climbing nearby Mt. Sharp over the next few years.
Astronomy Picture Of The Day: Feb. 5, 2013
[go to the link for expository links and a full size version of the picture]
There are a couple of things I found striking about this photo. The first is the look of Curiosity's shadow: the rocks in the shadow of the rover's camera make it look like some anthropomorphic robot's eyes.
The second is the background. It looks like parts of the Southwest do on cold days sometimes. Since Mars is really, really cold, that might just be my imagination, but it's not hard to imagine that this scene could be from a cold November morning on the Mojave Desert.
2 comments:
Yes. Clicking on the link and you can see that even better.
Clicking on the picture here should make it the same size as in the APOD page. Click on the picture at APOD, of course, and you get the full size photo, which is huge.
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