File:Martian Dust Devil Trails.jpg
Martian_Dust_Devil_Trails.jpg (800 × 600 pixels, file size: 147 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Summary
This portion of a recent high-resolution picture from the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows twisting dark trails criss-crossing light coloured terrain on the Martian surface. Newly formed trails like these had presented researchers with a tantalizing Martian mystery but are now known to be the work of miniature wind vortices known to occur on the red planet - Martian dust devils. Such spinning columns of rising air heated by the warm surface are also common in dry and desert areas on planet Earth. Typically lasting only a few minutes, dust devils becoming visible as they pick up loose red-coloured dust leaving the darker and heavier sand beneath intact. On Mars, dust devils can be up to 8 kilometres high. Dust devils have been credited with unexpected cleanings of Mars rover solar panels. Dark slope streaks are visible along steep slopes of sand dunes.
Source: http://www.uahirise.org/media/usage.php Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 17:58, 28 May 2018 | 800 × 600 (147 KB) | Suitupandshowup (talk | contribs) | This portion of a recent high-resolution picture from the HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows twisting dark trails criss-crossing light coloured terrain on the Martian surface. Newly formed trails like these had presented resea... |
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