Mike Malaska: Side View of Upper Atmosphere Clouds on Mars - Image taken by the MEX-VMC Camera of the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 15, 2009. In this image the detailed structure of upper atmosphere clouds can be seen against the masked limb of Mars. To make this image, MEX VMC Image 09-349_06.49.25_Img_No_57 and 58 were converted to a png files using the VMC2RGB utility. The two images were aligned in the stack with brighter image No 57 sitting on top of darker Image No 58. An artificial mask was made for the planetary disk of Image No 57 using a threshhold function. The mask allowed image 58 to be visible through the masked portion. Next saturation was increased and a custom channel mix added. A very subtle change in contrast gradient was added. Colors were unmodified. Image Credits: Mike Malaska/ESA