                        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.

                              2026 February 22
   A black and white image shows an unusual landscape with a bright ridge
       across the top and texture like small sand dunes. The shadow of
   something unusual dominates the image center. Wheels are visible at the
    bottom of the image. near the middle. Please see the explanation for
                         more detailed information.

                          Shadow of a Martian Robot
           Image Credit: NASA, JPL, Mars Exploration Rover Mission

   Explanation: What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn't human?
   Then you might be the Opportunity rover exploring Mars. Opportunity
   explored the Red Planet from 2004 to 2018, finding evidence of ancient
   water, and sending breathtaking images across the inner Solar System.
   Pictured here in 2004, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into
   Endurance Crater and sees its own shadow. Two wheels are visible on the
   lower left and right, while the floor and walls of the unusual crater
   are visible in the background. Caught in a dust storm in 2018,
   Opportunity stopped responding, and NASA stopped trying to contact it
   in 2019 and declared the ground-breaking mission, originally planned
   for only 92 days, complete.

                        Tomorrow's picture: dust blue
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.
