NEW YORK, BRONX (ORDO News) — The red planet Mars has always attracted the attention of scientists and astronautics enthusiasts. Its unique topography and atmosphere provide endless opportunities for exploration and discovery. NASA‘s Perseverance rover recently captured images of a rare and intriguing phenomenon on Mars – a dust devil.
The dust devil was spotted on August 30, 2023, the 899th Martian day of the mission. The rover’s nav cameras captured 21 frames of the swirling vortex, which were then compiled into a video sped up 20 times for better visibility. The footage shows the lower part of the dust devil moving along the western rim of Jezero Crater.
Dust devils are smaller and weaker than tornadoes on Earth, but they play an important role in redistributing dust on Mars. Scientists study these atmospheric phenomena to better understand the Martian atmosphere and improve weather models.
According to the imagery, the dust devil was located about 2.5 miles from the rover in a place called Torofa Ridge. It was estimated to be moving east to west at about 12 mph. The width of the dust devil was estimated to be about 200 feet, and its height was determined by the shadow it cast.
Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute, explained: “We can’t see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it casts gives us an idea of its height. Most of them are vertical columns. If the dust devil had this configuration, then its shadow would indicate its height to be about 1.2 miles.”
Dust devils are not unique to Mars; they are also found on Earth. However, Martian devils can be much larger than their earthly counterparts. They are most often observed during the spring and summer months, so Perseverance and the Curiosity rover regularly monitor the Martian landscape for these phenomena.
The Perseverance mission to Mars has several goals, one of which is astrobiology – the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover also aims to characterize the planet’s past geology and climate, pave the way for future human exploration, and collect and preserve Martian rocks and regolith for later analysis.
In subsequent missions, NASA, together with the European Space Agency (ESA), plans to send spacecraft to Mars to collect sealed samples left behind by Perseverance. These samples will then be brought back to Earth for further study and analysis, which could reveal even more secrets of the red planet.
The discovery of the dust devil by the Perseverance rover is another milestone in our exploration of Mars. As scientists and space enthusiasts continue to uncover the secrets of our neighboring planet, they look forward to exciting new discoveries that will expand our knowledge of the Universe.
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News agencies contributed to this report, edited and published by ORDO News editors.
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