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Earlier we have seen the panoramic pictures of Mars captured by Curiosity. That panoramic picture inspired scientists to create stunning more panoramic pictures of Mars. Recently, NASA‘s Mars rover Curiosity has sent new images of Mount Sharp from the red planet, which is said to be higher than any mountain in the 48 contiguous states of the United States.

The Mount Sharp, also called Aeolis Mons, in the center of Gale Crater rises more than 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor location of Curiosity. Lower slopes of Mount Sharp remain a destination for the Curiosity mission. In the above image, Mount Sharp is taller than any mountain in the 48 contiguous states of the United States. This mosaic image is a composite of dozens of photos Curiosity. The component images were taken by the 100-millimeter-focal-length telephoto lens camera mounted on the right side of Curiosity’s remote sensing mast, during the 45th Martian day of the rover’s mission on Mars (Sept. 20, 2012).

In the first image, the sky looks blue because NASA scientists adjusted the white balance and color to show the terrain as it would look under Earth’s lighting. In reality, the Martian sky would be like yellow to the human eye, which can be seen in the second image. Be noted, scientists make this color correction because it helps to identify different types of landscape and textures on the Red Planet, while white-balanced versions help scientists recognize rock materials based on their terrestrial experience.

Source: NASA

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