[X] My Assistant

[Tman]

evening sun of sol 456 (330KB)

[Deimos]

evening sun of sol 456 (330KB)

Very nice! A couple points for info, though. Most trivially, the Sun won't be setting
quite that far south until sol 500-550 or so. But perhaps Spirit can get this picture in a month or two. It's a bit north and above the actual pancam frame. More important to my own aesthetic tastes is that the sky immediately around the Sun is bluish, making real sunsets on Mars more spectacular than most imagined ones.

For instance, see http://www.donaldedavis.com/2004%20new/newer/MER2SSET.jpg. Don Davis based that on real images at Meridiani. A Pathfinder sunset is at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/image...path_ss24_1.jpg. Another Opportunity one is http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/pre.../20040226a.html.

The blueness is a function of the dust scattering. It is enhanced and spread as the Sun goes down, but is the case very close to around the Sun.

[Tman]

The blueness is a function of the dust scattering. It is enhanced and spread as the Sun goes down, but is the case very close to around the Sun.

Hi Deimos, I already read about dust scattering. But I've had always repressions about more blue in the images.

I gather, larger particles in the air, like dust and water in the martian atmosphere, should scatters more the long wave part of visible sunlight and (small) air molecules scatters the short wave part. Therefore my guess is the less dust in the martian atmosphere the more blue the sky around the sun with more dark blue sky farther away of the sun.

If it's so then should get the air less dust and therefore more blue in the image above, that shows even this Gusev's rim part.

@ Nirgal, feel free to lovely deform my pictures (even I've currently expected it )