Mars image in false colour created from two originals captured 10 October 2008 by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) - known as the 'Mars Webcam' - mounted on board Mars Express. The camera produces images as a 640x480-pixel array of 8-bit intensity samples. The originals were posted in the Mars VMC website (http://www.esa.int/vmc) and were processed by Bogdan Stancescu, Bucharest, Romania.
The Visual Monitoring Camera is originally provided simple, low-tech images of the Beagle lander separation, and is now back in action as the 'Mars Webcam'. It's not a scientific instrument, but it does provide fantastic views of Mars - including crescent views of the planet not obtainable from Earth. Images are posted online as a service to the public.
Download a desktop wallpaper version of this image (for Windows/Mac) at http://www.esa.int/vmc
The VMC is operated by the Mars Express Flight Control Team based at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany.