NASA’s Perseverance rover captured images of sunspots from Mars, regions where solar flares erupt on the surface of the Sun.
The observation was made with the Mastcam-Z cameras between May 8 and 20, 2024, when these types of flares sent charged particles towards Mars, where several NASA spacecraft were able to study them.
These cameras form a dual instrument equipped with a zoom function, which allows the cameras to zoom in, focus and take high-definition videos, as well as panoramic color images and 3D images of the Martian surface.
However, the Perseverance mission also frequently uses Mastcam-Z to capture images of the Sun to help scientists assess how much dust is in the atmosphere, because suspended dust affects the Sun’s brightness.
Inadvertently, the camera can also capture sunspots, which are relatively cold areas of the Sun with intense magnetic fields, as in the case of these images, NASA explained in a statement.
