                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                                2023 June 27

                          MAVEN's Ultraviolet Mars
     Image Credit: MAVEN, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics,
                            Univ. Colorado, NASA

   Explanation: These two global views of Mars were captured at
   ultraviolet wavelengths, beyond the spectrum visible to human eyes.
   Recorded by the MAVEN spacecraft's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph
   instrument in July 2022 (left) and January 2023, three otherwise
   invisible ultraviolet bands are mapped into red, green, and blue
   colors. That color scheme presents the Red Planet's surface features in
   shades of tan and green. Haze and clouds appear white or blue, while
   high altitude ozone takes on a dramatic purple hue. On the left, Mars'
   south polar ice cap is in brilliant white at the bottom but shrinking
   during the southern hemisphere's summer season. On the right, the
   northern hemisphere's polar region is seen shrouded in clouds and
   atmospheric ozone. Known to some as the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile
   EvolutioN spacecraft, MAVEN has been exploring Mars' tenuous upper
   atmosphere, ionosphere, and its interactions with the Sun and solar
   wind since 2014.

                      Tomorrow's picture: galaxies away
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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