Curiosity Rover took the first night images - photographed the surface of the stones in plain white and ultraviolet light.

Previous Rovers, who worked on the solar panels, at night, tried not to use, not to spend the charge in the batteries. But as a new device equipped with a nuclear power source, time of day special role playing no, and the hand-arm specially equipped both conventional and UV led light. The last similar by its functions "the black light bulb", i.e. ultraviolet and therefore almost invisible lamp.



At presents NASA images visible surface of the stone in the white light of the lantern, and in the ultra-violet fluorescent areas. Of course, photographed and special calibration plate is designed to test the camera. Scientists, as stated Ken Eget, a leading researcher in the group of MAHLI, still analyzing new pictures and going to check the availability of specific fluorescence.

MAHLI is a reduction from Mars Hand Lens Imager, that is the system of acquiring images, fixed on ' arm" Rover. In fact MAHLI is a special digital camera, which was built for the Curiosity and for the work with which it is handled by a separate group of researchers.

The possibility of covering the samples with ultraviolet light allows you to see the fluorescence of rocks, which provides additional information about their composition.

By the way, in December last year, the satellite took pictures of snowy winter on Mars. In pictures visible region Charitum Montes, located near the basin of Argir and Gale crater, which has the Rover Curiosity. The pictures were taken by the high resolution stereo cameras of the Mars Express. Depression of Argir Charitum Montes was covered with ice, consisting mainly of CO2.

Recall that the region Charitum Montes is a large group of hills that stretches for 1,000 miles to the southern edge of the basin of Argir. The name of the region gave the astronomer Eugene Michel antoniadi crateres in his work La Planete Mars in 1929.