NASA's Perseverance rover is positively glowing in its new selfie on Mars

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NASA's Perseverance rover pauses along the western rim of Mars' ancient Jezero Crater in a striking new image, taking in sweeping rocky cliffs and windswept terrain stretching across the Red Planet's rugged landscape.

A newly released selfie shows the robotic explorer against a dramatic backdrop of ancient Martian terrain in a region known as "Lac de Charmes." The rover appears perched on a jagged outcrop, with the western rim of Jezero Crater in the distance. The image, assembled from 61 individual photographs, captures Perseverance beside a freshly drilled abrasion patch as it studies some of the oldest rocks scientists have encountered during the mission, according to a statement from NASA.

The selfie was taken on March 11 during the rover's 1,797th Martian day, or sol, on Mars. The image marks Perseverance's deepest journey yet into the western frontier beyond Jezero Crater — terrain scientists see as a valuable window into Mars' distant past.

"What I see in this image is [an] excellent exposure of likely the oldest rocks we are going to investigate during this mission," Ken Farley, Perseverance's deputy project scientist at California Institute of Technology, said in the statement. "There is a sharp ridgeline visible in the mosaic whose jagged, angular texture contrasts starkly with the rounded boulders in the foreground. We also see a feature that may be a volcanic dike, a vertical intrusion of magma that hardened in place and was left standing as the softer surrounding material eroded away over billions of years."

In the new selfie, Perseverance appears to "look" directly into the camera, while its robotic arm — which carries the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and engineering) camera used to capture the images — remains hidden outside the stitched frame. The result is a remarkable portrait of the robotic explorer amid Mars' rugged wilderness.

Perseverance has recently been traversing especially ancient and scientifically valuable terrain along the crater rim. Researchers believe these rocky outcrops could preserve clues about Mars' early crust, environmental history and whether the planet once hosted microbial life.

The rover's latest travels have taken it through landscapes filled with fractured rocks, ridges and mineral-rich formations likely shaped billions of years ago when water flowed across the region. Jezero Crater itself is thought to have once contained an ancient lake and river delta, making it one of the prime locations on Mars to search for signs of ancient habitability.

Perseverance also recently captured a panoramic view of the Lac de Charmes region on April 5, or Sol 1882, using its Mastcam-Z instrument. The mosaic of an area known as "Arbot" was assembled from 46 images and reveals one of the richest geological vistas of the mission, according to the statement.

Since landing inside Jezero Crater in February 2021, Perseverance has been collecting rock samples for eventual return to Earth while searching for evidence that microbial life may once have existed on Mars. The rover's newest selfie combines artistry with science, giving researchers a detailed look at its surroundings, hardware condition and geological targets.

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Samantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. Previously, her work has been published in Nature World News. When not writing or reading about science, Samantha enjoys traveling to new places and taking photos! You can follow her on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13.