The Curiosity rover has witnessed a colourful marvel on Mars: Shining clouds.
Colour is rare in this frozen desert, apart from the predominant red. But in the skies above Curiosity, the clouds appear to almost sparkle with colour.
Unlike Earth, Mars doesn't have many overcast, cloudy days. The red planet has a thin, dry atmosphere, so clouds tend to appear in the skies over the Martian equator when the planet is cold and farthest from the sun in its oval-shaped orbit every two Earth years .
That changed two Earth years, or one Martian year, ago when Curiosity spotted clouds that arrived earlier and formed higher in the atmosphere than expected.
Preparing for this event in case it happened again, Curiosity's human team on Earth sent instructions to the rover to look for early clouds in late January.
Curiosity's camera captured the wispy clouds, which are filled with ice crystals. These ice crystals appear to shimmer because they scatter sunlight. In addition to being a dazzling sight, these images are helping scientists understand more about Martian cloud formation.
These clouds that arrive earlier form at a higher, colder altitude, so they're essentially made of dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). Scientists are still studying them to figure out why this happens.
Images taken in March by the rover's navigation cameras, which capture photos in black and white, show off the ripples in the clouds. But color images taken by the camera on the rover's mast after sunset reveal shiny, glowing clouds.
As the sun sets, these high clouds grow almost incandescent, filling with ice crystals and reflecting the fading sunlight. Then they darken as the sunlight disappears.
"If you see a cloud with a shimmery pastel set of colours in it, that's because the cloud particles are all nearly identical in size," said Mark Lemmon, an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, in a statement. "That's usually happening just after the clouds have formed and have all grown at the same rate.
"I always marvel at the colours that show up: reds and greens and blues and purples," Lemmon said. "It's really cool to see something shining with lots of colour on Mars."
Procurement Minister and newly appointed Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos is warning the NDP that the dental care program it helped put into place will be in jeopardy if it pulls its support from the governing Liberals.
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets early Sunday across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. The sides appeared to be spiraling toward all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
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Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party's presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations.
The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.
A man is facing numerous drug trafficking charges after Dufferin OPP seized a large assortment of drugs and weapons in Orangeville earlier this week.
The London Police Service (LPS) is currently investigating a suspicious death in the east end.
One person has died following a shooting in Scarborough late last night.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 33 workers and injured 17 others, officials said Sunday, marking one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history as others remained missing hours after the blast.
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
A two-story building collapsed in the southern Italian province of Naples early Sunday, killing two young siblings and leaving their mother and an older woman trapped, firefighters said.
Multiple victims in a mass killing in Alabama were caught in the crossfire during a shooting in a popular entertainment district late Saturday, police said.
Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party's presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations.
The revelers celebrated Saturday to mark the official opening of the world's largest folk festival. Mayor Dieter Reiter started the celebration at noon when he inserted the tap into the first beer keg.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be in New York this week for the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future amid increasing geopolitical instability around the world.
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Procurement Minister and newly appointed Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos is warning the NDP that the dental care program it helped put into place will be in jeopardy if it pulls its support from the governing Liberals.
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The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant said Friday that it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers with carbon-free energy.
Lebanese authorities on Thursday banned walkie-talkies and pagers from being taken on flights from Beirut airport, the National News Agency reported, after thousands of such devices exploded during a deadly attack on Hezbollah this week.
Kathryn Crosby, who appeared in such movies as 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad', 'Anatomy of a Murder,' and 'Operation Mad Ball' before marrying famed singer and Oscar-winning actor Bing Crosby, has died. She was 90.fff
'Saturday Night Live' will have a slew of famous faces to help kick off its historic 50th season when the show returns later this month.
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The maker of the popular party game Cards Against Humanity is accusing Elon Musk's SpaceX of trespassing on and damaging a plot of vacant land the company owns in Texas.
More than 2,200 zoo professionals from 23 different countries have gathered in Calgary for the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference.
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Jonathan Aranda homered for the second consecutive game, helping Taj Bradley and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 on Saturday.
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General Motors (GM) has issued a recall for 38,000 vehicles for safety risks related to a software glitch, Transport Canada reported in a notice on Wednesday.
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has accused Tesla CEO Elon Musk of 'remotely disabling' his Cybertruck, which had been sent to the frontline of Russia's war in Ukraine.
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Volunteers and staff members gathered along Vancouver’s Stanley Park Seawall Saturday to pick up litter as part of International Coastal Cleanup Day.
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Halifax Regional Police warned the public of a series of high-value thefts targeting retail stores Friday.
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The Cambridge Professional Fire Fighters’ Association held their annual Muscular Dystrophy Boot Drive on Saturday.
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Motors were roaring, and tires were spinning as Saskatoon's biggest names in motocross gathered together for the 50-year anniversary of the club's founding on Saturday.
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The Amherstburg Freedom Museum is celebrating a year of festivities in anticipation of its 50th anniversary in 2025.
The St. Clair College golf teams were successful at the Niagara Knights Invitational tournament on Friday.
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A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
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The Red Bridge, a historic landmark in Kamloops, B.C., was completely destroyed by fire early Thursday morning.
Animal protection officers in British Columbia have rescued three pit bulls – including one that gave birth to 10 puppies – from a rat-infested home in Kelowna.
Despite the heavy rain, plenty of muscle turned up for United Way’s annual Pull the Bus fundraiser in Lethbridge Friday.
Lethbridge County has rescinded its fire restriction as a result of the recent cool, wet weathr.
The Lethbridge Hurricanes kicked off the 2024-25 season on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Edmonton Oil Kings 3-1 in a game played at VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.
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A 26-year-old driver from Surrey, B.C., has been charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm in a crash that killed two youths in northern Ontario last year.
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
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