NASA's Curiosity Rover Documents Shiny, Iridescent Clouds on Mars
Is the red planet wearing highlighter?
Mars is having a major beauty moment: new footage captured by NASA‘s Curiosity rover reveals shiny clouds floating above the red planet, formations that appear to shimmer with an iridescence similar to our favorite highlighters.
Let’s be clear, though — the planet isn’t actually wearing Glossier Haloscope. According to CNN, the clouds are filled with ice crystals that scatter sunlight, imparting a highlighter-like effect. “If you see a cloud with a shimmery pastel set of colors in it, that’s because the cloud particles are all nearly identical in size,” atmospheric scientist Mark Lemmon told the news outlet. “That’s usually happening just after the clouds have formed and have all grown at the same rate,” he explained, adding that the icy masses reflect a range of shades including red, purple, green and blue.
Head to CNN to check out images of the shiny clouds on Mars.
