← Another date

Birthday · November 20, 2017

Curiosity Rover Takes Selfie on Mars

November 20, 2017

Galaxies were colliding long before you were born, and they will keep colliding long after us all.

Curiosity Rover Takes Selfie on Mars

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 November 20, 2017. 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

Curiosity Rover Takes Selfie on Mars

Original APOD · November 20, 2017

Yes, but have you ever taken a selfie on Mars? The Curiosity rover on Mars has. This selfie was compiled from many smaller images -- which is why the mechanical arm holding the camera is not visible. (Although its shadow is!) Taken in mid-2015, the featured image shows not only the adventurous rover, but dark layered rocks, the light colored peak of Mount Sharp, and the rusting red sand that pervades Mars. If you look closely, you can even see that a small rock is stuck into one of Curiosity's aging wheels. Now nearing the end of 2017, Curiosity continues to explore the layers of sedimentary rocks it has discovered on Vera Rubin Ridge in order to better understand, generally, the ancient geologic history of Mars and, specifically, why these types of rocks exist there. Now Available: The 2018 APOD Calendar

Explore November 20 in other years