Watch the sun set on MARS: Opportunity rover captures the red planet's deep blue sky as our star 'dips' below the horizon 02-25

Nasa's Opportunity rover captured the sunset from the surface of Mars

Dust in the atmosphere scatters red light making the sunset appear blue

The effect produces an eerie yet beautiful contrast to the orange landscape

Twilight on Mars can continue for up to two hours after the sun has set

Opportunity has experienced 3,940 sunsets during its mission to Mars 

Scientists use the Martian sunsets to study dust and ice in the atmosphere 

It may be known as the red planet, but sunsets on Mars are blue.

Nasa has released a new video on the social media site Vine showing the sun dipping towards the Martian horizon, captured by its exploratory rover Opportunity.

The time-lapse video of the eerie sunset was created by piecing together images taken by Opportunity.

And rather than turning the sky a deep orange, as happens on Earth, the setting sun gives the sky a deep blue tinge.

Although much of the surface of Mars is a deep red colour, it is this thick dust that also turns the sunset blue.

However, Dr John Bridges, a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester who studies Mars, warned that the cameras on the Opportunity rover may not be conveying the true image.

He said: 'We do have to be a little careful with the colour produced by the cameras on this rover as they are a false colour image.

'What is very striking though is how much smaller the sun appears compared to here on Earth.

'Taking images like this can teach us a great deal about the atmosphere on Mars. 

'Most of the dust is in the troposphere, which is about 40km up on Mars.

'There is a lot of effort to find out how high up dust clouds can get up on Mars - particularly after some cloud-like plumes were spotted that appear to be much higher in the atmosphere than we thought dust can go.

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