Morning light reaches the wind-carved cliffs of Mount Sharp. Curiosity captured this six-image Mastcam panorama on 11 August 2026, sol 4,982, at about 8:30 a.m. local Mars time.
The image preserves the morning colours without the usual white balancing. The distant ridges are yardangs, shaped by wind. How their rock layer formed remains uncertain; ancient volcanic ash is one possibility.
This viewer follows the pixels of NASA’s published partial panorama. Its view indicator shows the relative image extent, with no calibrated sky angles.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS