Strange rainbow appears on Perseverance rover’s Mars image, NASA Explains

Strange rainbow appears on Perseverance rover’s Mars image, NASA Explains

NASA has finally explained the image beamed back by its Perseverance rover. The image shows a rainbow appearing in Mars’ sky and resembles pictures taken in the Earth’s atmosphere. However, a rainbow is impossible on the Red Planet, as it does not have the processes that make the phenomenon possible on Earth.

NASA explained that the rainbow appeared due to a lens flare when the sunlight hit the Perseverance rover’s cameras. The new image adds to the many images beamed back by the rover since its touchdown on the Red Planet earlier this year.

“Many have asked: Is that a rainbow on Mars? No,” NASA took to Twitter via Perseverance’s official handle. “Rainbows aren’t possible here. Rainbows are created by light reflected off of round water droplets, but there isn’t enough water here to condense, and it’s too cold for liquid water in the atmosphere. This arc is a lens flare.”

The space agency also explained that the colors appear due to the flare from the cameras mounted on the rover. “Sunshades weren’t considered essential on my back Hazcams, so you can see scattered light artifacts in their images,” the official account posted.

The strange nature of the surface on Mars, which sometimes appears similar to Earth’s, is also highly distinct at the same time. It has led people into believing several things that aren’t actually there.

People often claim to have spotted things that appear as faces and even coffins on the Martian surface. These incidents are often capitalized by conspiracy theorists to put forward as proof that space agencies like NASA are hiding the truth about what’s happening on the Red Planet.

But these unusual sightings are, in turn, a result of a phenomenon called “pareidolia”, which makes people notice significant patterns in things that actually don’t have them.

As for the mission, the Perseverance rover will explore a Martian site likely to have been habitable. It will study the signs of past life, and collect soil samples. It will also demonstrate the technology required for future Mars exploration missions. 

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