NASA’s Latest Greeting from the Red Planet Blends Images from Sunrise and Sunset

NASA’s Curiosity rover continues to beam back views from Mars that stop people in their tracks cold. Just before the new year, the NASA team released a new panoramic image taken by the rover. It’s essentially a holiday postcard, or a composite of photos taken by the rover itself, blending scenes from morning and late afternoon on the same spot.

On November 18, 2025, NASA engineers instructed Curiosity to take several black and white panoramic images with its navigation camera. It snapped one at 4:15 p.m. local time on sol 4,722, the rover’s 4,722nd day on operation. Then it received another one the next day at 8:20 a.m., or sol 4,723. The team combined those two complete circle pictures into one large image, which occurs to depict the landscape under two contrasting lighting conditions.

Following that, some color data was used, with blue on the morning side and yellow on the afternoon side. The scientists chose that option to illustrate how much the sunlight fluctuates during the day on Mars, bringing up all sorts of minute characteristics in the rocks and dirt.

The end result is a peaceful small stretch that extends into the distance. Curiosity landed on top of a ridge in the boxwork formations, which are part of Mount Sharp’s lower slopes and located near to the Gale Crater. From where it stood, you could see the jagged rock patterns and the crater floor. Tire tracks can be seen reaching into the distance, left by the rover as it bores into the surface at spots such as Nevado Sajama.

The rim of the Gale Crater is seen around 25 miles away. That distant edge serves as an excellent reminder of how huge this old impact site is. And, of course, there’s Mount Sharp in the background, which Curiosity has been methodically climbing for years in search of clues of previous water and habitability.

Curiosity has traveled more than 20 miles, collected dozens of rock samples, and gained a much better understanding of Mars’ geological history over the last thirteen years. Releases like this holiday postcard provide the public with a glance from over 140 million miles away on average.
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