Watch real HD video of Mars (we're talking 1.2 billion pixels)

Stunning details make up these shots of Mars, the red planet. They were all photographed by NASA's Curiosity spacecraft

Mars has always fascinated man. For decades Red planet It is “inhabited” by rovers and landers sent by humans to discover possible traces of past life. The following video/panorama consists of 1.2 billion pixels captured by the rover curiousity of the surface of Mars between Sol 3057 (March 12) and Sol 3062 (March 17, 2019). It consists of 396 images obtained thanks to the rover's mast camera. Dive into the details (we're in the Mount Sharp area, inside Gale Crater).

Some information about the red planet

With an average radius of 3,390 km, Mars is about half the size of Earth. the Red planet It is on average 228 million kilometers away from the sun, equivalent to 1.5 astronomical units (oneAstronomical unit “AU” is the distance between the Earth and the Sun i.e 150 million kilometers). Mars completes one revolution every 24.6 hours which is very similar to an Earth day (23.9 hours). They are called the days of Mars Sol A year on Mars lasts 669.6 Martian days, which is equivalent to 687 Earth days.

Mars' rotation axis

Its axis of rotation is tilted by 25 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit around the sun, and this is another similarity to… Terra, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees. Mars has distinct seasons, but they last longer than Earth's because it takes longer to orbit the Sun (because it is farther away). In addition, the length of the seasons varies due to the elliptical orbit. The Red Planet is currently the most studied celestial body with numerous active rovers on its surface from several global space agencies (and satellites in orbit).

sourceCover image source: NASA/JPL