NASA's Curiosity rover has photographed a sunrise on Mars, Phys.org reports. The image, published Tuesday, shows the Martian dawn as seen from the rover's position on the planet's surface.
The picture is the latest in a series of visual releases from the mission. NASA Science's Astronomy Picture of the Day for October 3 featured a Curiosity selfie taken at Vera Rubin Ridge, a location the rover has explored during its climb of Mount Sharp.
Curiosity recently passed 5,000 Martian days, or sols, on the surface. PetaPixel reported that the rover marked the milestone with a panorama of a sandy ridge, while TechEBlog described a "postcard" image from a site called Chocolatal. KTLA also reported that the rover captured what it called an unprecedented view of Martian cliffs.
The 5,000-sol figure reflects the length of Curiosity's surface operations since it landed. A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day, which is why the mission's timeline is counted in Martian rather than terrestrial days.
The rover's imaging work serves both public outreach and science. Panorama and selfie images are assembled from multiple frames taken by cameras mounted on the rover's mast and robotic arm, and they document the terrain the mission studies as it moves across the landscape.
What to watch next: whether NASA releases additional images or details from Curiosity's current location, and how the mission's imaging campaign continues past the 5,000-sol mark.
