Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos!
Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2026 February 22


A black and white image shows an unusual landscape with a bright ridge across the top and texture like small sand dunes. The shadow of something unusual dominates the image center. Wheels are visible at the bottom of the image. near the middle. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Shadow of a Martian Robot
Image Credit:
NASA,
JPL,
Mars Exploration Rover Mission

Explanation:
What if you saw your shadow on Mars and it wasn’t
human?

Then you might be the
Opportunity rover exploring Mars.

Opportunity explored the
Red Planet
from 2004 to 2018, finding
evidence of ancient water,
and sending breathtaking images across the inner
Solar System.

Pictured
here in 2004, Opportunity looks opposite the Sun into
Endurance Crater and sees its own
shadow.

Two wheels are visible on the lower left and right,
while the floor and walls of the unusual crater are
visible in the background.

Caught in a dust storm
in 2018,
Opportunity stopped responding,
and NASA stopped trying to contact it
in 2019 and declared the
ground-breaking mission,
originally planned for only 92 days,
complete.

Tomorrow’s picture: dust blue

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Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn
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