The iridescent cloud reveals new clues about ice formation in the Martian atmosphere (no little green men, sorry).

While the sight is fascinating, scientists are still trying to understand why carbon dioxide ice clouds only form in specific areas of Mars.

The Sun sets differently on Mars. Part of that is due to its distance from the star (an average of 142 million miles versus Earth’s roughly 93 million miles), but it also has to do with the planet’s atmosphere. A great example of the effects can be seen in the Red Planet’s noctilucent clouds.

NASA's Curiosity rover has captured images of rainbow-colored noctilucent clouds in Mars' atmosphere. Made of dry ice, these aren't like Earth's clouds.

The phenomenon of twilight clouds was first observed on Mars in 1997 during NASA’s Pathfinder mission. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that the Curiosity Rover captured the first-ever images of iridescence in Martian clouds.

Red-and-green-tinted clouds drift through the Martian sky in a new set of images captured by NASA's Curiosity rover using its Mastcam—its main set of "eyes." Taken over 16 minutes on Jan. 17 (the 4,426th Martian day,

"I'll always remember the first time I saw those iridescent clouds and was sure at first it was some color artifact."

At the surface, Mars is a desolate, barren world with a rocky landscape, massive dust storms and extreme temperature swings. However, a rover recently captured a splash of color in the sky as rare clouds drifted overhead.

NASA astronaut Suni Williams reacts to spacewalk record, extended stay in orbit and more 09:27. New images captured by NASA's Curiosity rover show colorful clouds in the sky over