The Red Planet continues to amaze us with every discovery NASA makes on its surface. This time it was an automated car perseverancethe person responsible for picking up some Incredible images of a thrilling whirlpoolalso referred to as “Dust devil“, moving over the surface of Mars.
On August 30 of this year, during 899 degrees Sun of MarsThe Perseverance rover’s navigation cameras recorded this vortex at a terrain elevation called Thoroughfare Ridge. According to NASA, this was a hurricane higher than a Medium-sized tornado in the United States And five times taller than the giant Empire State Building.
Through a statement, a pot and CalTech Jet Propulsion LaboratoryIt was reported that the tornado was captured by the Perseverance camera for approximately 84 seconds as it formed over nearby hills, a few kilometers away. According to US Space Agency calculations, this hurricane was moving quickly Its speed is about 20 kilometers per hour, its width is about 61 meters, and its amazing height reaches about 2 kilometers. Although the top of the tornado could not be seen due to video limitations.
“We don’t see the peak of the Dust Demon, however The shadow it casts gives us a good indication of its heightsaid Mark Lemon, a planetary scientist at… Boulder Space Science Institute And a member of the Perseverance scientific team. “Most of them are vertical plumes. “If this dust devil is configured like this, its shadow indicates that it is about 2 km high.”
“Dust devils”
These are called vortices “Dust devils” It is formed because Processes similar to those that occur on Earth. Sunlight heats the Martian soil, causing surface air to rise and cooler air to descend to fill the empty space. Under appropriate circumstances, A vortex forms and the air rotates as it rises. When the Earth is covered in enough light particles such as dust, it is drawn into the whirlwind, making it visible before settling elsewhere where the demon loses its power.
Unlike terrestrial hurricanes, which can only grow As much as the clouds covering them, There are no restrictions on the height of a dust cyclone on Mars. Researchers are still not sure Why was this dust tornado so long?But this phenomenon provides valuable information about… The Martian atmosphere and atmospheric processes on the Red Planet.
according to A study published in the journal Icarus In 2018it is estimated that on an average day there could be At least one “dust devil” per square kilometer on Mars, Which is equivalent to approx 145 million daily. This suggests that dust devils may be the main transporters of dust through the Martian atmosphere, playing a crucial role in dust dynamics on the Red Planet.
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