This Is What Sunset Looks Like on Mars, and You’ve Never Seen Anything Like It

May 13, 2015 at 1:47 pm |

Is there life on Mars?

It’s a question that’s still left to be answered. One thing we do know, for sure, is that Martians would enjoy a very different sunset than what we’re used to here on Earth.

As it turns out, the Red Planet and the Blue Marble are quite opposite when it comes to the setting Sun, with Mars’ calming, almost eerie blue sunset serving as a stark contrast to the fiery oranges that light up our Earth’s evening sky.

The NASA’s Curiosity Rover, which has been carrying out an ongoing investigation on Mars since 2012, recently sent back four images of a Martian sunset, and it’s truly unlike anything you’ve ever seen (save for the occasional sci-fi flick).

But why so blue? According to Curiosity team member Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, “The colors come from the fact that the very fine dust is the right size so that blue light penetrates the atmosphere slightly more efficiently.” This means that the blue light scattering off the dust particles stays closer to the sunlight, while red and orange light spreads out elsewhere.

Watch the “video” of the progressive sunset on Mars.

These are the incredible new images of sunset on Mars. But why so blue?