Martian Sunset

Description

The Sun setting on the Mars exploration rover Spirit (left). There is a bluish glow in the sky around and above the Sun. Such glows can remain visible for up to 2 hours after sunset or before sunrise. The glow is caused by high altitude dust scattering sunlight around to the night side of the planet. The rest of the sky is reddish due to the large amount of dust in the atmosphere. This is a composite image, with a model of Spirit added to an image the rover took on its 489th Martian day, 19 May 2005. (Photo by Science Photo Library)