                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2022 September 17

                    Perseverance in Jezero Crater's Delta
                 Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS, ASU

   Explanation: The Perseverance rover's Mastcam-Z captured images to
   create this mosaic on August 4, 2022. The car-sized robot was
   continuing its exploration of the fan-shaped delta of a river that,
   billions of years ago, flowed into Jezero Crater on Mars. Sedimentary
   rocks preserved in Jezero's delta are considered one of the best places
   on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life and
   sites recently sampled by the rover, dubbed Wildcat Ridge and Skinner
   Ridge, are at lower left and upper right in the frame. The samples
   taken from these areas were sealed inside ultra-clean sample tubes,
   ultimately intended for return to Earth by future missions. Starting
   with the Pathfinder Mission and Mars Global Surveyor in 1997, the last
   25 years of a continuous robotic exploration of the Red Planet has
   included orbiters, landers, rovers, and a helicopter from planet Earth.

                  Tomorrow's picture: stone circle analemma
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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