Mars sunset red like the Earth or different?
October 3, 20242 Mins Read
If you put the picture of Mars next to the Earth, you can easily understand which is which planet. Can be distinguished by color. Earth's color is a pleasant blue, while Mars is a rusty reddish brown. Not only from outside, but also standing on the chest of Mars, the difference in color can be understood well. No, no man has been to Mars yet. No one has yet had the luck to see it with their own eyes. But humans have used their knowledge to send robotic vehicles to Mars long ago.

Sunset on Mars

Perseverance, Curiosity, Spirit, Opportunity, Insight—humans have seen various scenes of Mars through the eyes of multiple robotic vehicles. Saw the sunset of Mars. The horizon does not fill with red at sunset there. The sun casts a smoky blue light there and disappears on the horizon at the end of the day. But why is that?

The reason is simple, the reason why blue sky or red twilight is seen on Earth, is the same with Mars. The principle is the same, i.e. scattering of light by particles in the atmosphere. White light from the sun is actually a mixture of all colors. The thing is, what is the color? Color is actually nothing but a difference in wavelength. That is, white is a mixture of different wavelengths of light. When white light falls on an object, the object does not absorb or reflect all the light.

Rather, some absorb, and some reflect. The wavelength at which light is reflected by matter after absorption is what we see as color. Let me break it down a bit. Each molecule of matter interacts with only certain wavelengths of light. Only light of certain wavelengths is scattered by it. As a result, the light spectrum of certain wavelengths is seen. So we see different objects in different colors. Because matter is actually a collection of particles.

Now let's talk about the atmosphere of Mars. Mars' atmosphere is different from Earth's in both composition and density. To be honest, the atmosphere of Mars is very thin. Its air pressure is one hundredth of Earth's. If you want to feel the air pressure of the Martian surface, you have to rise about 30 km above sea level on Earth. The planet's atmosphere is not as rich in oxygen and nitrogen as Earth's. Most of its components are carbon dioxide and fine dust particles.

Due to these dust particles, the sky acquires a reddish color. That is, red light is deflected. Blue light penetrates the atmosphere. Things happen a little differently on Earth. Blue light collides with air particles and scatters. This is why the sky looks blue. Also longer wavelength light or red light reigns during sunrise or twilight.

When the sun is on the horizon, light waves have to travel a relatively long distance. As a result, light scattering is more. The wavelengths that survive this long path are the ones we see across the horizon. Apart from that, the basic composition of the atmosphere of the two planets is also different. As a result, the color of light changes. Red shows the blue sky. Reddish twilight looks whitish blue.