Image: Mars violet sky

Description: Courtesy: NASA/JPL The usually pinkish-red color of Mars's sky turns a violet color on occasion, due to the presence of water ice clouds with very small ice particles. Image from en:Mars Pathfinder These clouds from Sol 15 have a new look. As water ice clouds cover the sky, the sky takes on a more bluish cast. This is because small particles (perhaps a tenth the size of the martian dust, or one-thousandth the thickness of a human hair) are bright in blue light, but almost invisible in red light. Thus, scientists expect that the ice particles in the clouds are very small. The clouds were imaged by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. Source http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00915
Title: Mars violet sky
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
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