Curiosity Rover Spots Twilight Clouds on Mars, January 17, 2024

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover observed noctilucent, or twilight, clouds on January 17, 2024. The clouds, captured in a 16-minute recording, consist of carbon dioxide ice. These clouds, unlike those on Earth, contain frozen carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice. The twilight clouds were first observed by NASA's Pathfinder mission in 1997, with Curiosity first spotting them in 2019. This is the fourth Martian year the rover has observed the phenomenon, which occurs during early fall in the southern hemisphere.