Enhanced Composite Images of Mars

Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / composite by Errol Coder
 Sol 2806|Dec 16, 2012 - Nearby Hill ridge
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Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / composite by Errol Coder
 Sol 2876|Feb 26, 2012 - Edge of crater and Solar panel
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Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / composite by Errol Coder
Sol 2881|Mar 2, 2012  - Crater edge and nearby dunes
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Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / composite by Errol Coder
 Sol 2880|Mar 1, 2012 - Crater edge/Low-Gain Antenna
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Credit: NASA / JPL / Cornell / composite by Errol Coder
Sol 2804 | Dec 14, 2011 - TRUE Color L456 Filter

For quite a number of Martian Sols "days", the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been roaming the Endeavor crater conducting Panorama surveys and checking nearby outcropping. These composite images are considered "enhanced", and are done by four images, using the L2,5,7 filters. These are different then TRUE color shots, which use the L456 filters to try and capture the more realistic color of mars. ENHANCED images are used to help bring out geological detail in the landscape. In these images the sky appears blue, and it could be mistaken for a valley in the Utah, or elsewhere in the United States red desert. But, in act the sky of Mars is white.

As you can see from the image on the bottom left, the colors are more subdued and a whiter sky. Using True color composites, you can get an image closer to the what humans may see on Mars.