NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has captured a breathtaking image of Arsia Mons, the largest volcano on Mars, peeking through clouds at dawn. The image, released on Friday, marks the first time one of the volcanoes has been seen on the planet’s horizon.
The Mars Odyssey is in its 22nd year of orbiting Mars and has taken thousands of high-altitude images of the Martian horizon. To capture these images, it rotates 90 degrees while in orbit, allowing it to take a picture with its camera. The spacecraft typically focuses on the upper atmosphere but also studies surface features.
Arsia Mons is the tallest volcano in the Tharsis Mountains and stands at over 12 miles high. It’s covered in thick clouds of water ice, especially during the Martian equivalent of winter, known as aphelion. The new image clearly shows the cloud canopy across Mars’ equator.
“We picked Arsia Mons hoping to see its summit poke above the early morning clouds,” said Jonathon Hill, operations lead for Odyssey’s camera system. “And it didn’t disappoint.” The camera allows scientists to observe changes in dust and water ice cloud layers over time, providing new clues about how Mars’ atmosphere evolves.
The Mars Odyssey has been orbiting Mars since 2001, making it the longest-running spacecraft on another planet. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in 2021, is collecting samples for return to Earth from Jezero Crater, an ancient lakebed and river delta that could hold secrets about past microbial life.
Source: https://wtop.com/science/2025/06/mars-volcano-that-dwarfs-earths-tallest-ones-seen-in-new-image