The iridescent cloud reveals new clues about ice formation in the Martian atmosphere (no little green men, sorry).

The Sun sets differently on Mars. Part of that is due to its distance from the star (an average of 142 million miles versus Earth’s roughly 93 million miles), but it also has to do with the planet’s atmosphere. A great example of the effects can be seen in the Red Planet’s noctilucent clouds.

Red-and-green-tinted clouds drift through the Martian sky in a new set of images captured by NASA's Curiosity rover using its Mastcam—its main set of "eyes." Taken over 16 minutes on Jan. 17 (the 4,426th Martian day,

While the sight is fascinating, scientists are still trying to understand why carbon dioxide ice clouds only form in specific areas of Mars.

Curiosity, a set of NASA 's robotic "eyes" on the Red Planet, recorded 16 minutes of so-called noctilucent clouds flying overhead on Jan. 17. These clouds, sometimes referred to as twilight clouds because they're too faint to see in daylight, appear iridescent by scattering light from the setting sun.

NASA’s Curiosity rover captured stunning twilight images of Martian clouds, revealing iridescent red and green tinges. These noctilucent clouds, consisting of water-ice and carbon-dioxide ice, appear higher in the atmosphere and are especially noted for their 'mother-of-pearl' iridescence.

The phenomenon of twilight clouds was first observed on Mars in 1997 during NASA’s Pathfinder mission. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that the Curiosity Rover captured the first-ever images of iridescence in Martian clouds.

American space agency NASA publishes a short video showing iridescent clouds moving in the thin Martian atmosphere, as seen by the Curiosity rover

"I'll always remember the first time I saw those iridescent clouds and was sure at first it was some color artifact."

NASA has shared a breathtaking video of colourful clouds in the Martian sky. Captured by the Curiosity Rover, exploring the Red Planet, it used its Mastcam to record a 16-minute video of these colourful clouds.