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Martian dawn pic from Curiosity rover highlights cliffs and crags

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October 8, 2026

Martian dawn: Creamy, solid sky with light on distant cliffs and closer cliffs darker. — NASA’s Curiosity rover captured this view of a Martian dawn on August 11, 2026. NASA just released it to the public on Tuesday. Now, Curiosity is headed toward those distant, sunlit crags. See the full panorama below. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS.

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Martian dawn pic highlights cliffs and crags

NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring the Mount Sharp region of Mars since it arrived in 2012. Now, on October 6, 2026, NASA has released this new pic of a Martian dawn, which illuminates the play of light on the cliffs and crags of the region.

The Mars Curiosity rover captured this image back on August 11, 2026, which was the 4,982nd Martian day, or sol. And since then, Curiosity has surpassed the 5,000 sol mark and is still going strong!

An odd feature on Mars

NASA said the crags on the horizon are known as yardangs. These are landscape protrusions carved out of bedrock. The yardangs protrude on the northwestern reaches of Mount Sharp.

Mount Sharp is a 3-mile-tall (5-km-tall) mountain, while the yardangs extend horizontally about 10 miles (16 km) across.

But scientists think something is odd about this yardang layer on Mars. Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said:

The yardang layer looks out of place. It’s the wrong color, the layers tilt at an odd angle, and it almost appears plastered on. But that’s what makes it exciting to reach.

No one is sure exactly what created this layer, but one idea is it may be ash deposited by ancient volcanic eruptions.

Long, horizontal image of a craggy landscape with a yellowish-white sky. — View larger. | Here’s the full panorama of the Martian dawn with all 6 shots from NASA’s Curiosity rover. NASA said: “Unlike most images from the rover’s Mastcam, this one was processed without the usual white balancing; an artistic choice that preserves the early morning appearance.” Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS.

More about Mount Sharp

Mount Sharp lies within Gale Crater. And it makes up the crater’s central peak. Curiosity has now climbed 0.6 miles (1 km) of elevation as it ascends toward Mount Sharp. In fact, that’s the highest ever climbed on Mars, and the rover is still going.

Scientists say Mount Sharp is made of layers that formed over time. Lakes and streams once flowed here. But eventually, the water dried up and left behind salty deposits. The wind then eroded away some of the material, leaving behind the crags or yardangs.

Now the little Curiosity rover will roll onward, perhaps reaching the base of the yardangs by 2027. We look forward to seeing these jagged formations from a closer point of view!

View looking down at a mountainous region with an oval circled near the base. — This is an artist’s concept looking down at Mount Sharp on Mars. The circled area denotes the location of the yardangs, or crags, in the top image. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ ESA/ DLR/ FU Berlin/ MSSS.

Bottom line: On October 6, 2026, NASA released an image of Martian dawn from the Curiosity rover. The image captures a pale light illuminating distant cliffs and crags.

Via NASA

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October 8, 2026

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Kelly Kizer Whitt

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About the Author:

Kelly Kizer Whitt writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.

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Martian dawn pic from Curiosity rover highlights cliffs and crags