As the sky crane hit the surface, bright dust was kicked up, exposing darker material underneath. In fact, these scour marks make an arrow pointing to Curiosity. The radial jets from the impact are much like those from asteroids that hit the planetary surface at oblique angles.
The image was captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter about 24 hours after landing.
This close-up view shows darkened radial jets caused by the impact of Curiosity's sky crane, which helped deliver the rover to the surface of Mars.
