'Cloudgazing on Mars': NASA's Curiosity rover captures colourful clouds on Mars - WATCH

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has shared a stunning video of its Curiosity rover, which is currently exploring planet Mars. The rover has captured colourful clouds using its Mastcam. The video was captured on January 17, 2025, which was the 4,426th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Just like Earth, Mars also has its own seasonal weather pattern, but the atmospheric composition is different. The Martian clouds may look similar to what we see here on Earth, but they include frozen carbon dioxide or dry ice.

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NASA explained on its website that the clouds at the top of the frame, including the falling white plumes, are made of carbon dioxide ice. The plumes are an estimated 37 to 50 miles (60 to 80 kilometres) above the Martian surface.

The space agency said that the plumes could fall as low as 31 miles (50 kilometres) above the surface before they would evaporate due to rising temperatures.

The clouds are in red-and-green colours and their images show the latest observations of what are called noctilucent (Latin for "night shining") or twilight clouds

Iridescent clouds, sometimes known as "mother-of-pearl" clouds, can occasionally even produce a rainbow of colours. They are only visible when the clouds are particularly high and during the evening since they are too faint to be seen during the day.

"Martian clouds are made of either water ice or, at higher altitudes and lower temperatures, carbon dioxide ice. (Mars’ atmosphere is more than 95% carbon dioxide)," NASA wrote.

Watch the video here:

Are such clouds found everywhere on Mars?

According to NASA, the mystery persists over why such twilight clouds, made of carbon dioxide ice, haven't been spotted in other locations on Mars. Curiosity landed in 2012 and is on Mount Sharp in Gale Crater, just south of the Martian equator.

NASA said that such clouds were first seen on Mars in 1997 by the Pathfinder mission and Curiosity didn't spot them until 2019.

Mark Lemmon, who is an atmospheric scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, led a paper summarising Curiosity’s first two seasons of twilight cloud observations.

"I'll always remember the first time I saw those iridescent clouds and was sure at first it was some color artifact. Now it's become so predictable that we can plan our shots in advance; the clouds show up at exactly the same time of year," Lemmon said as quoted by NASA.

The findings of the study were published late last year in Geophysical Research Letters.

(With inputs from agencies)