NASA releases spectacular photo of rainbow on Mars | TheHill - The Hill

The cause of a “rainbow” seen on an image of Mars is up for debate online.

However, given the cold, thin, and dry atmosphere of Mars, the chances of the image being of an actual rainbow are unlikely.

Further speculation on the site has come from a 2015 “Ask Me Anything” with NASA team members in which NASA Mars Program Office Chief Scientist Rich Zurek said it was possible that “icebows” could appear on Mars, because while there are no water droplets, snow has been observed at the Poles.

This was supported by Dave Lavery, the program executive for Solar System Exploration at NASA, who told Forbes, “Definitely not a rainbow.

local Mars solar time when these images were taken," he said, adding that those are the prime conditions for stray light to interfere with a camera’s optics.