                        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 June 27

                        Mars Marathon by Perseverance
              Image Credit: NASA, LPL (U. Arizona), MRO, HiRISE

   Explanation: In this recent HiRISE view from the Mars Reconnaissance
   Orbiter, the little green dot indicated on the surface of the big Red
   Planet is the Perseverance Mars rover. Recorded on June 13, the
   car-sized, six-wheeled robot was imaged a day before completing a
   Martian marathon, traveling a total distance of 26.218 miles (42.195
   kilometers) since it began exploring the surface of Mars. That
   equivalent marathon distance was achieved by Perseverance on its
   mission sol (Martian day) 1,890, after about 5 Earth years and 4 Earth
   months of driving. Perseverance is continuing to hunt for
   biosignatures. In the HiRISE image, the Mars rover's tracks can be seen
   leading to its location in an area west of its landing site in Jezero
   crater near an ancient river delta.

                      Tomorrow's picture: supergalactic
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

