![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2015\/01\/new_years_at_mars\/15182161-1-eng-GB\/New_Years_at_Mars_small.jpg\")
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\nThis image was taken on 2 January just after midday GMT, and is one of the first of the Red Planet this year from the low-resolution Visual Monitoring Camera \u2013 the \u2018Mars Webcam\u2019 \u2013 on ESA\u2019s Mars Express orbiter.\n<\/p>\n
\nIt was recorded from an altitude of about 10 000 km and shows the south pole of Mars, including the ice cap of mostly solid carbon dioxide.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe camera is not a scientific instrument but originally captured the separation of the Beagle lander. It now provides images of Mars, including crescent views of the planet, not obtainable from Earth.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe images are acquired and downlinked to Earth on a substantially automated cycle, and original images are posted automatically into a dedicated Flickr channel<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \nMore via the blog: blogs.esa.int\/vmc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \t\t\t\t\t \nThis image was taken on 2 January just after midday GMT, and is one of the first of the Red Planet this year from the low-resolution Visual Monitoring Camera \u2013 the \u2018Mars Webcam\u2019 \u2013 on ESA\u2019s Mars Express orbiter.\n<\/p>\n \nIt was recorded from an altitude of about 10 000 km and shows the south pole of Mars, including the ice cap of mostly solid carbon dioxide.\n<\/p>\n \nThe camera is not a scientific instrument but originally captured the separation of the Beagle lander. It now provides images of Mars, including crescent views of the planet, not obtainable from Earth.\n<\/p>\n \nThe images are acquired and downlinked to Earth on a substantially automated cycle, and original images are posted automatically into a dedicated Flickr channel<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n