Are there clouds, fogs and cyclones on Mars?

(ORDO NEWS) — Mars is a frozen desert planet and there is much less water in the atmosphere than in the most arid regions of our home planet.

In winter, there is practically no water vapor in the Martian atmosphere, but in spring and mid-summer they are activated.

The maximum water content in the atmosphere was recorded in the summer season over the north pole of the Red Planet.

The temperature at this time of the year contributes to the partial thawing of the ice and the water goes up, slightly saturating the rarefied atmosphere.

However, the indicator of the presence of water is still very small and more than 100 million times inferior to the Earth.

It is important to note that on Mars, clouds can form not only from water, but also from carbon dioxide condensate.

Water clouds form at an altitude of about 20 kilometers and are most often observed above the hills, as if “climbing” uphill.

In this mosaic of 24 images, you can see clouds of water ice particles and they are mostly over the volcanoes of Tharsis Province (where Olympus is).

This cloud was captured by the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft on July 6, 2005. It consists of particles of ice and hovers over the Arsia volcano.

In front of you are the Mariner valleys, which are shrouded in fog, which also consists of particles of ice.

The image was taken by the same Mars Global Surveyor, which at that moment was at an altitude of about 600 kilometers.

Incredibly, real cyclones can form near the poles of Mars! White spots are ice on the surface.

In this image, the Mars Global Surveyor on September 30, 2004 captured an undulating cloud above the Korolev impact crater.

Here is the Martian cloudiness photographed from the surface by the legendary Opportunity rover in 2004. Impressive, right?

Mars is a unique and incredibly interesting planet from a scientific point of view. As we have seen, there is an atmosphere, clouds, fog and even cyclones.

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