Low Sun of Tempe

        This mosaic was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on Sol 2115 (December 14, 2009). Facing north, the approximately 44 degree wide field of view is of an area called Tempe. Husband Hill and the El Dorado Dunes can be seen in the background whereas the sandy foreground features the wheel tracks. Taken late in the day, the setting sun low in the western sky (about 25 degrees above the horizon) provides a dramatic shadow on the wheel track in the right of this image that was made by Spirit driving backwards dragging her broken right front wheel along through the Martian sand. Pancam's 482 nm filter was used in this mosaic.  This is a mosaic made from the left eye only.

Jim Bell
Pancam Instrument Lead
February 18, 2019