TORONTO — If we are to settle on Mars, we’re going to have to get used to the planet’s sunset.
Instead of the warmth of orange and reds, it turns out the sunset is blue.
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NASA released a Vine of a 2012 video of a Martian sunset. The video was captured by the Mars Opportunity rover and it’s garnered a lot of interest, probably due to recent news about the “Mars 100,” people who have made the shortlist for a one-way trip to Mars. Also, it’s pretty cool.
So, why is the sunset blue?
Mars is known as the red planet, due to its pervasive red dust. But it’s actually that dust that creates the blue sunset.
On Earth, the particles in our atmosphere scatter blue light (that’s why we see the sky as blue). On Mars, though, it’s the opposite. The red dust scatters red light, making the sky a reddish-orange colour. But at sunset, the blue light remains, hence the blue sunset.
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