Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2014 March 8
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Mount Sharp on the Horizon
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSL, Navcam

Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses (red for the left eye) and look out over this expansive martian landscape. The panoramic stereo view is composed of images from the roving Curiosity's Navcam taken at a rest stop during a 100 metre drive on Sol 548 (February 19). The 5.5 kilometre high peak of Mount Sharp, also known as Aeolis Mons, is on the horizon, its base a destination for Curiosity. In the foreground are rows of striated rocks along the Junda outcrop. Centred toward the south-southeast the scene spans 160 degrees. (Another Navcam image here looks back along Curiosity's route at the end of the Sol's drive on Mars.)

Tomorrow's picture: tunnel vision


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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