New, mind-blowing panorama of Mars will take your breath away

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Be sure to click the photo to expand it to its full panoramic glory!

This fantastic photo was stitched together from dozens of high-resolution photos taken by the Mars Curiosity rover.

The foreground and middle distance show a geologic scene dominated by eroded remnants of a finely layered ancient sandstone deposit. Since landing, the rover traversed through terrains dominated by water-lain sedimentary rocks (mudstones and siltstones, and early on, conglomerates), some of which have contained minerals like clays that attest to the ancient presence of water. However, the rover crossed into very different geology while climbing onto the Naukluft Plateau. The sandstone here appears to be dominated by thick layers of windblown sand, suggesting that these deposits formed in a drier epoch. These rocks resemble the types of rocks that a dune field like the “Bagnold Dunes” (PIA20283) — visited by Curiosity in late 2015 and early 2016 –would form if buried. Source

While the photo has been enhanced by NASA, they have done a good job of keeping it realistic in how the colors are portrayed.