← Another date

Birthday · March 6, 2020

Mars Panorama from Curiosity

March 6, 2020

On your birthday, the Earth completed another orbit — 584 million miles traveled since your last celebration.

Mars Panorama from Curiosity

A little universe, just for you

Your date.
Ready to give.

Free PNG · 1080 × 1350 · No account needed

Image rights and credit requirements apply when sharing or reusing imagery.

Change the year

APOD published March 6, 2020. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.

Behind the image

Mars Panorama from Curiosity

Original APOD · March 6, 2020

The Mars Rover named Curiosity recorded high-resolution, 360 degree views of its location on Mars late last year. The panoramic scene was stitched from over 1,000 images from Curiosity's Mast camera or Mastcam. In this version, captured with Mastcam's medium angle lens, the rover's deck and robotic arm are in the foreground, stretched and distorted by the extreme wide perspective. Just beyond the rover are regions of clay rich rock, evidence for an ancient watery environment, with a clear view toward more distant martian ridges and buttes. Gale crater wall runs across the center (toward the north) in the background over 30 kilometers in the distance. The upper reaches of Mt. Sharp are at the far right. Images to construct the panorama were recorded over 4 consecutive sols between local noon and 2pm to provide consistent lighting. Zoom in to the panoramic scene and you can easily spot the shadow casting sundial mounted on rover's deck (right). In July NASA plans to launch a new rover to Mars named Perseverance.

Explore March 6 in other years