火星表面的山丘、棱线和车辙

2020 January 26

Hills, Ridges, and Tracks on Mars
Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS; Processing & Copyright: Thomas Appere

Explanation: Sometimes, even rovers on Mars stop to admire the scenery. Just late last November the Curiosity rover on Mars paused to photograph its impressive surroundings. One thing to admire, straight ahead, was Central Butte, an unusual flat hill studied by Curiosity just a few days before this image was taken. To its right was distant Mount Sharp, the five-kilometer central peak of entire Gale crater, the interior of which Curiosity is exploring. Mount Sharp, covered in sulfates, appears quite bright in this colorized, red-filtered image. To the far left, shrouded in a very dark shadow, was the south slope of Vera Rubin ridge, an elevation explored previously by Curiosity. Between the ridge and butte were tracks left by Curiosity’s wheels as they rolled forward, out of the scene. In the image foreground is, of course, humanity’s current eyes on Mars: the complex robotic rover Curiosity itself. Later this year, if all goes well, NASA will have another rover — and more eyes — on Mars. Today you can help determine the name of this rover yourself, but tomorrow is the last day to cast your vote.

Help Name the Mars 2020 Rover: Vote here!

火星表面的山丘、棱线和车辙
影像提供: NASA , JPL-Caltech , MSSS ;影像处理与版权: Thomas Appéré

说明: 有时候，就连火星车也会停下来看风景。举例来说，在去年的11月底，好奇号火星车就停下脚步并拍下这片精采的火星周围景观。其中特别值得注意的是正前方的中丘（Central Butte），它是好奇号在拍下这片景观前数天，才刚造访过的不寻常平顶山丘。中丘右侧的远方山峰，为好奇号目前正在探索的盖尔坑中心处，高约5公里的夏普山。覆盖着硫酸盐的夏普山，在这幅经过红光滤镜处理的上色影像里，看来极为明亮。在影像左缘沉浸在非常黝黑影子里的，是薇拉鲁宾岭的南坡，先前好奇号曾探索过这个高地。在薇拉鲁宾岭和中丘之间，可见到好奇号前行到这片视野外，所留下的车辙。位在影像前景的，想当然耳是人类目前派驻在火星上的眼目，亦即是好奇号火星车的本尊。在今年底，如果一切顺利的话，美国航太总署将布署另一艘火星车到火星上。你可以参与投票决定这部火星车的命名，投票的截止日在明天。

为火星车命名: 投票处