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Arsia Mons, “the plume” reappears! VMC Mars Webcam, July 17, 2020 At 05:49:35 UTC the VMC Mars Webcam on board the Mars Express probe, took this photo of Mars from an altitude of 9986.41 km.Here reappears the famous “plume” on Arsia Mons already observed in September 2018, which caused a stir and heated discussions about it (see https://www.facebook.com/PianetaMarte.MdM/posts/1882629478486903). For those who want to deepen implications… Read More »************************ Breaking news ************************

At 15:18:31 UTC Mastcam Right captured this double ridge of layered rocks and two knolls in the distance, against the backdrop of a visibly hazy sky.Note the difference between the two ridges; in particular, the terrain immediately below the ridge in the background appears to be furrowed with bluish tints in the first section and is much smoother than the rest of the terrain.During the… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2820, July 12, 2020

Mapping of ancient lake shores, different minerals and violent volcanism of Jezero crater Two studies based on ESA’s Mars Express observations of Jezero Crater, the future landing site for NASA’s 2020 Mars Perseverance rover, have shed light on how and when this fascinating area formed and identified regions best suited to detect ancient signs of life. NASA’s 2020 Perseverance Mars rover will search for signs… Read More »Mars Express helps uncover secrets of Perseverance landing site July 1, 2020

Dawn Mons, Mars Webcam, June 27, 2020 At 17:52:18 UTC the VMC Mars Webcam on board the Mars Express, took this picture of Mars from an altitude of 9853.22 km.The right pane of this image shows us an elevation map of the Red Planet oriented very similarly to the photo taken by the Mars Express.There is noticeable activity associated with the Alba Mons volcano, for… Read More »************************ Breaking news ************************

At 05:49:19 UTC the Mastcam Right shot this beautiful stratified rock, furrowed by intrusions of the most incredible shapes.As in a work of modern art, the pareidolia is the master and every single detail can suggest the most disparate forms, when nature proves to be the greatest artist in the universe!The original image is a black and white encoding of the Bayer mask that has… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2803, June 25, 2020

The NOMAD instrument, developed at the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy and currently orbiting Mars aboard ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter, has detected a unique green glow of oxygen in the atmosphere surrounding the red planet at an altitude of about 80 km. This emission accounts for the characteristic color of Earth’s polar aurora and air glow, but has never before been observed in… Read More »ExoMars’ NOMAD caught a peculiar green glow on Mars

At 19:21:08 UTC Mastcam Right captured this beautiful layered rock.The morphology of the upper surface is beautiful, with unique looking loops and depressions.I find equally beautiful the color gradients present from the top to the bottom of the rock itself.The rest of the image also contains very interesting details that I recommend you look at carefully…The original image is a black and white encoding of… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2790, June 11, 2020

At 16:37:01 UTC the Mastcam Right captured this ridge of stratified rocks, from which some flows, probably of water, originate, furrowing the smoother part of the ground immediately below the larger rocks on top of the ridge itself.This detail has already been photographed before, but unfortunately from unfavorable angles, so I hope to see this area again in future photos to observe any changes.The original… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2786, June 7, 2020

At 17:39:19 UTC the Mastcam Left has taken another track impressed by a wheel of the rover, which also in this case shows us a soil definitely wet and therefore as plastic as clay to model!Also in this case the contours are extraordinarily clear, even where the soil is rich in pebbles, the compactness and cohesion observed is therefore justified only by the presence of… Read More »Curiosity Sol 2781, June 2, 2020