NASA posted a gif that shows how the Curiosity rover's shadow changes position over the course of one Martian day, or sol. It lasts 12 hours.
The two black-and-white images were taken on November 8, the 4002nd Martian day of the mission. Curiosity captured its own shadow moving across the surface of Mars using Hazcams.
The instructions to record the video were part of the final set of commands sent to the rover just before the start of Mars' solar conjunction, the period when the Sun is between Earth and the planet. Because solar plasma can interfere with radio communications, missions delay sending commands during this time.
Rover operators typically rely on Hazcam to detect rocks, slopes and other hazards to avoid while moving. However, while Curiosity's exploration activities were frozen, the team decided to use the cameras for the first time to record 12 hours of imagery, hoping to capture clouds or dust devils that could reveal more about the weather on the Red Planet.
However, scientists did not noticeable weather phenomena in the resulting images.
The first image is from the front of the Hazcam, showing a south-easterly direction along the Gediz Valley on Mount Sharp. Curiosity has been climbing to the base of the 5 km high mountain in Gale Crater since 2014. The mission will turn 10 years old in 2022.
As the sky brightens during sunrise, the shadow of the rover's 2-meter robotic arm moves to the left, revealing the rover's front wheels. Also noticeable on the left is a round calibration target mounted on the robotic arm’s shoulder. Engineers are using it to test the accuracy of the X-ray Alpha Particle Spectrometer, an instrument that detects chemical elements on the surface of Mars. In the middle of the day, Hazcam's front camera autoexposure algorithm sets its autoexposure time to about one-third of a second. As darkness falls, the exposure time increases to over a minute, causing "hot pixels" that look like snow in the final image.
The second image is from the back of Hazcam, looking northwest down the slope of Mount Sharp to the floor of Gale Crater. At the same time, the right rear wheel of the rover, as well as the shadow of the Curiosity power system, are visible. The small black artifact that appears in the middle left of the gif, in frame 17, was caused by a cosmic ray hitting the camera sensor. Likewise, the bright flickering and other noise at the end is a result of heat from the power system affecting the Hazcam image sensor.
These images were reprojected to correct Hazcam's wide-angle lenses.
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