This is what a sunset looks like from Mars

This is what a sunset looks like from Mars
(Image credit: Twitter.com/Huffington Post)

In the Curiosity rover's first-ever full-color photo, the sun sets amid a blue sky:

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Mark Lemmon, a NASA scientist, explained in a statement that the blue sunset is the result of Mars' "very fine" dust particles. "When the blue light scatters off the dust, it stays closer to the direction of the sun than light of other colors does," Lemmon said. "The rest of the sky is yellow to orange, as yellow and red light scatter all over the sky instead of being absorbed or staying close to the sun."

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Meghan DeMaria

Meghan DeMaria is a staff writer at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked for USA Today and Marie Claire.