Two Worlds One Sun
Explanation:
How different does sunset appear from Mars than from Earth?
For comparison, two images of our common star were taken at
sunset, one from Earth and one from Mars.
These images were scaled to have same angular width and
featured here side-by-side.
A quick inspection will reveal that the
Sun appears slightly smaller from
Mars than from
Earth.
This makes sense since
Mars is 50% further from the Sun
than Earth.
More striking, perhaps, is that the
Martian sunset is
noticeably bluer
near the Sun than the
typically orange
colors near the setting Sun from Earth.
The reason for the
blue hues from Mars is
not fully understood, but thought to be related to
forward scattering properties of
Martian dust.
The terrestrial sunset was taken in 2012 March from
Marseille,
France, while the Martian sunset was
captured last month by
NASA's robotic
Curiosity rover from
Gale crater on
Mars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
