Currently rolling across the Red planet, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has sent amazing pictures of an intriguing patch on the sun, that is not yet visible from Earth.

Currently rolling across the Red planet, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has sent amazing pictures of an intriguing patch on the sun, that is not yet visible from Earth. Using its Mastcam-Z camera system, Perseverance managed to capture the big sunspot moving across the solar disk late last week and over the weekend. Notably, the rover captures images of the Sun daily to gauge the amount of dust present in the Martian atmosphere. These sunspots are capable of spitting out powerful solar storms. Perseverance helps scientists spot them before they become visible from Earth. The rover manages to spot these sunspots early because Mars is orbiting the far side of the Sun and thus has a week headstart over Earth. Also read | Alien toilet? Mars rover captures mysterious ‘doughnut’ on surface of the red planet The sunspots are able to emit powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that can slam into Earth and trigger potentially dangerous geomagnetic storms, regardless of whether we can see the dark patches. This means we can be caught off guard by extreme space weather events. Perseverance's primary duty While the rover routinely sends the picture of the Sun, it remains its auxiliary duty. The main task of the rover is to hunt for evidence of life on Mars and the Martian rocks could provide clues about how the Red planet evolved. Notably, the rover is part of an international, interplanetary relay team created to unravel the secrets of our neighbourhood planet. Watch | WION Fineprint: NASA announces plans for a nuclear rocket Around 2028, a Sample Retrieval Lander is expected to be launched from Earth, carrying a NASA-led Mars rocket and small Mars helicopters. The lander will land near a crater nearby the rover and the rocks collected by Perseverance would be loaded upon the rocket. Notably, the lander needs to be close to the Perseverance rover to facilitate the transfer of Mars samples. It must land within 66 yards (60 metres) of its target site. "Two Ingenuity-like helicopters would provide a secondary capability to retrieve samples on the surface of Mars. Once the sample cache is launched off the Red Planet, another spacecraft would capture it in Mars orbit, and then bring it to Earth safely and securely in the early to mid-2030s," NASA informed. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Big solar flare incoming? Intriguing black patch on Sun captured by Perseverance Mars rover

A team at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Centre generated a map of planet Mars using the treasure trove of data which was collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The newly-generated map of Mars will make viewing the Martian landscape more easier than before, allowing people to navigate through it even on their smartphones.&nbsp;

The new map, which has been compiled with the help of cloud computing and supercomputers, will be providing people with a high-resolution, three-dimensional experience of the otherworldly terrain of planet Mars.&nbsp;

<h2>Map contains 4,800 digital terrain models, 155,000 images</h2>

A team at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Centre processed the map which consists of around 4,800 digital terrain models (DTMs) and has more than 155,000 images of the red Martian surface.

"Now anyone on the planet with a smartphone can search, use and marvel at these data," stated team leader Jay Laura, of the Astrogeology Science Centre (ASC), in a statement.

ALSO READ |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/its-not-so-red-never-before-seen-images-of-mars-are-absolutely-stunning-603664">It's not so red. Never-before-seen images of Mars are absolutely stunning</a>

"These data are important because they democratise the availability of high-quality Mars topographic data," added Laura. "Getting consistent, well-aligned results is not easy. We felt it was important to generate and release these products so that others could freely access the data. When these data are highly accessible, anyone can contribute to scientific discovery," he stated.&nbsp;

The team has used the data on Martian topography collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) Context Camera. The MRO Context Camera can capture images with a resolution of around six&nbsp;metres&nbsp;per pixel and can cover an area of around 18.5 miles (30 kilometres) wide and 100 miles (160 km) long.

The team then produced the DTMs by overlapping two images of a similar area, which were then processed using a supercomputer to create a detailed 3D view.&nbsp;

"The process is similar to how visual data collected by both our eyes is processed by the brain to generate our sense of depth perception and create a 3D picture of our surroundings," team members stated. &nbsp;&nbsp;

<h2>Maps of Mars free, accessible to general public</h2>

Speaking about the data used to create maps, Laura said, "These data are ripe for discovery and use by machines and humans. This data release means that the HiRISE data set can now be seamlessly leveraged by machine-learning scientists."

WATCH |&nbsp;Study: Mars' crust made of HEAVY ARMOUR. Will this tough exterior pose a threat?

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/study-mars-crust-made-of-heavy-armour-will-this-tough-exterior-pose-a-threat-594243/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Amazon's Open Data Registry is hosting the data which is free for anyone to use. To ensure that the data is easy to find and download for the general public, search tools for users have been released by the USGS.

"With data releases like this, USGS is taking the lead to develop and release analysis-ready planetary science data," Laura stated.

You can&nbsp;now write for&nbsp;wionews.com&nbsp;and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/content-contribution-registration-form">here</a>.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/live-tv/embed?autoplay=1&amp;mute=1" width="100%"></iframe>

A team at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Centre generated a map of planet Mars using the treasure trove of data which was collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

A team at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Centre generated a map of planet Mars using the treasure trove of data which was collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The newly-generated map of Mars will make viewing the Martian landscape more easier than before, allowing people to navigate through it even on their smartphones. The new map, which has been compiled with the help of cloud computing and supercomputers, will be providing people with a high-resolution, three-dimensional experience of the otherworldly terrain of planet Mars. Map contains 4,800 digital terrain models, 155,000 images A team at the US Geological Survey's (USGS) Astrogeology Science Centre processed the map which consists of around 4,800 digital terrain models (DTMs) and has more than 155,000 images of the red Martian surface. "Now anyone on the planet with a smartphone can search, use and marvel at these data," stated team leader Jay Laura, of the Astrogeology Science Centre (ASC), in a statement. ALSO READ | It's not so red. Never-before-seen images of Mars are absolutely stunning "These data are important because they democratise the availability of high-quality Mars topographic data," added Laura. "Getting consistent, well-aligned results is not easy. We felt it was important to generate and release these products so that others could freely access the data. When these data are highly accessible, anyone can contribute to scientific discovery," he stated. The team has used the data on Martian topography collected by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's (MRO) Context Camera. The MRO Context Camera can capture images with a resolution of around six metres per pixel and can cover an area of around 18.5 miles (30 kilometres) wide and 100 miles (160 km) long. The team then produced the DTMs by overlapping two images of a similar area, which were then processed using a supercomputer to create a detailed 3D view. "The process is similar to how visual data collected by both our eyes is processed by the brain to generate our sense of depth perception and create a 3D picture of our surroundings," team members stated. Maps of Mars free, accessible to general public Speaking about the data used to create maps, Laura said, "These data are ripe for discovery and use by machines and humans. This data release means that the HiRISE data set can now be seamlessly leveraged by machine-learning scientists." WATCH | Study: Mars' crust made of HEAVY ARMOUR. Will this tough exterior pose a threat? Amazon's Open Data Registry is hosting the data which is free for anyone to use. To ensure that the data is easy to find and download for the general public, search tools for users have been released by the USGS. "With data releases like this, USGS is taking the lead to develop and release analysis-ready planetary science data," Laura stated. You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here. WATCH WION LIVE HERE

Martian landscape on smartphone? New map of Mars created from data collected by NASA

martian-landscape

Martian Landscape, News on Martian Landscape, stories on Martian Landscape, articles on Martian Landscape, Martian Landscape stories at Wion, Martian Landscape news, Martian Landscape latest news

martian landscape

Big solar flare incoming? Intriguing black patch on Sun captured by Perseverance Mars rover

Martian landscape on smartphone? New map of Mars created from data collected by NASA