This image has been captured by the rover-type exploration vehicle "Curiosity" (Mars Science Laboratory), a mission in charge of NASA-led Martian exploration.
This is the first time that an image of an asteroid has been obtained from the surface of the red planet , but the interesting thing is that the image shows two asteroids: Ceres and Vesta (objects belonging to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and also larger celestial bodies) which in turn are part of NASA's Dawn mission. Dawn, which already orbited one of these large objects in 2011 and 2012 (specifically Vesta), will begin to orbit Ceres in 2015.
The image taken, with the camera that the Curiosity rover has on its mast (after a total of twelve seconds of exposure) on April 20, is part of an experiment to control the opacity of the nocturnal atmosphere of Mars, where in clouds of water ice and mists are developing this time of year.
"The two moons of Mars were the main targets that night, but we chose a time when one of the moons was close to Ceres and Vesta in the sky," explains Mark Lemmon, from Texas A&M University (USA) and member of the investigation.
