NEW DELHI, Sept. 29 (UPI) —
India’s Mars Orbiter Mission began orbiting the Red Planet only a few days ago, but it has already captured some stunning images of the cold, ferrous sphere. Today, India’s space agency released several of those photos, and one of them offers a grand view of the entirety of Mars.
Not only does the bird’s-eye shot feature the Martian planet in all its splendid rotundity and redness, it also captures the beginnings of a dust storm, as well as a surface discoloration in the shape of the Indian subcontinent.
The photos — recently released by India’s Space Research Organization — were taken by the Mars Color Camera on-board the Mars Orbiter spacecraft. In the photo capturing the entire Mars silhouette, dust clouds can be seen beginning to swirl in the Northern Hemisphere (at the top left). "Something’s brewing here!" ISRO’s official Mars Orbiter Twitter account posted.
The photo was taken on Sunday at an altitude of 46,000 miles.
Something’s brewing here! pic.twitter.com/ecX1t6onXpâ € ” ISRO’s Mars Orbiter (@MarsOrbiter) September 29, 2014
The orbit of India’s Mars satellite is especially elliptical, moving from roughly 47,000 miles-away at its furthest point to just 262 miles at its periareon, or closest approach. This will allow MOM to study different layers of the planet’s atmosphere, as well as capture a range of photographs, both closeups and distant panoramas.
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