Science
Related: About this forumPhobos silhouetted against the Martian surface. Photo from the Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft
Anyone know why the limb of Mars looks green/blueish here, but in the other photo of Mars' limb, it looks like the usual reddish color?
Is one true color, and the other is false?
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Thanks for posting!
Bugenhagen
(151 posts)I love the internet again (we go back and forth).
JHB
(37,129 posts)...I'm gonna lose it!
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)Ichingcarpenter
(36,988 posts)I'm wondering why the weird colors even though the photo is rather fantastic.
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)xocet
(3,870 posts)Mars Orbiter Mission
http://www.isro.gov.in/pslv-c25-mars-orbiter-mission
Maybe they (the ISRO) would be able to answer your question.
modrepub
(3,468 posts)If the colors are true then what you may be seeing is backscattering in the Martian atmosphere. The Martian atmosphere is actually viewable in this picture; it's the transparent layer along the edge of the planet. Molecular backscattering on Mars is similar to earth with blue colors being preferentially scattered thus giving the blue sky you see when the sun is out on a clear day (at least directly overhead). I'd probably add that there tends to be a lot of dust in the Martian atmosphere, which also scatters light, and can also be contributing to the colors you are seeing in this image, again if it's not a false color image. If you look at some of the old Viking probe surface images the Martian sky does appear to be blue, similar to Earth.
Orsino
(37,428 posts)trusty elf
(7,348 posts)Gorgeous!