The NASA rover sends back its latest postcard from Mars CURIOSITY ROVER, 13 JUNE 2023
EYE ON THE SKY
This picture of the Marker Band Valley on Mars was created by combining two panoramic shots of the region – one taken in the morning and one in the evening – and then adding colour. Each panorama was in turn constructed from five individual images taken by Curiosity’s black and white navigation cameras.
It’s likely that this winding area is the site of an ancient lake, unexpectedly discovered by the rover. Visible in the picture are the hills Bolivar and Deepdale, which Curiosity recently drove between, along with several other small hills, all of which lie within Gale Crater. The crater’s rim can be seen 40km away, while the peak of an 87km-distant mountain is just visible beyond. Also visible are Curiosity’s tracks, along with its three antennae and its radioisotope thermoelectric generator.
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Star-studded cluster HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE, 19 JUNE 2023
NGC 6544, lying in the constellation of Sagittarius, is one of the smallest known globular clusters – but as this new picture shows, that certainly doesn’t mean it’s lacking in stars. The image was created using data from Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys and Wide Field Camera 3, which have been searching in visible light for evidence of a pulsar recently observed at other wavelengths.
Lightning strike JUNO PROBE, 15 JUNE 2023
On Earth, lightning is most prevalent towards the equator, but on Jupiter it’s the poles that see all the a
