If you thought sunrises on Earth were beautiful, wait until you see one on our planetary neighbor.
One of NASA's rovers recently captured a stunning sight of dawn on Mars with illuminated cliffs in the distance. The U.S. space agency has a fleet of spacecraft both on the ground and orbiting the red planet that have returned plenty of striking imagery.
But the new photo, courtesy of the iconic Curiosity rover, has now become the most detailed image of the Martian wind-carved cliffs ever captured, according to NASA.
Here's a look at the Curiosity rover's photo of a dawn on Mars.
NASA rover captures stunning photo of Mars dawn
NASA's Curiosity rover used its Mastcam instrument to snap six photos Aug. 11 of Martian cliffs. Once beamed back to Earth, those images were stitched together into a panorama
that NASA released Oct. 6.
"Unlike most of Curiosity’s Mastcam images, this one was processed without white balancing, preserving the early morning appearance," NASA said in a statement.
The striking view of the distant cliffs as bright morning light illuminates its crags showcases in unprecedented detail features that mission scientists have waited years to see so close, the U.S. space agency added.
Photo unveils more features of Mount Sharp
The wind-carved rocket ridges seen on the horizon are features known as yardangs. In this case, the yardang layer extends about 10 miles across the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp, according to NASA.
Curiosity, which has spent more than a decade climbing the 3-mile tall mountain, at the end of August reached a milestone of about 1 kilometer in elevation, NASA said – the highest any rover has ever reached on Mars.
The Sun is always rising somewhere. 🌄
— NASA (@NASA) October 6, 2026
On the 4,982nd Martian day of its mission, our Curiosity rover captured this photo of dawn breaking over distant yardangs, jagged land formations carved by wind. https://t.co/OnNbMY921o pic.twitter.com/toVcCJruDl
As the rover draws closer to the yardangs, NASA said it expects to receive more stunning images from Curisosity that could help scientists determine how the cliffs were formed.
What is NASA's Curiosity rover?
NASA has two car-sized robots – Perseverance and Curiosity – that have spent years exploring the Martian surface for signs that the planet was once habitable.
While Perseverance hums along at a feature known as the Jezero crater, the Curiosity rover has been exploring about 2,300 miles East.
The Curiosity rover began its voyage to Mars in November 2011, landing in August 2012 in the Gale Crater on the boundary between Mars' cratered southern highlands and its smooth northern plains. While exploring the crater, believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, Curiosity has collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm.
As the iconic rover climbs 3-mile-high Mount Sharp, it is searching for evidence that Mars was once hospitable to life. To that end, the rover has been behind a slew of recent discoveries, including observations of never-before-seen organic compounds.
Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@usatodayco.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NASA photo of Mars dawn reveals cliffs in unprecedented detail
