2023-09-29 19:06:09
Whirlwind observed by Perseverance on Mars – NASA/JPL
MADRID, 29 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The bottom of a Martian dust devil was captured moving along the western rim of Mars’ Jezero Crater by NASA’s Perseverance rover on August 30.
The sequence of images spread now, which accelerated 20 times, It is made up of 21 frames taken four seconds apart by one of the rover’s navigation cameras.
Spot the dust devil ??@NASAPersevere captured a dust devil moving over Jezero Crater. The video is sped up 20x, and though only the lower portion of the dust devil can be seen, scientists estimate it to be about 1.2 miles (2 km) tall. pic.twitter.com/ua4L2b1kGt
— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) September 29, 2023
Much weaker and generally smaller than tornadoes on Earth, dust devils are one of the mechanisms that move and redistribute dust around Mars. Scientists study them to better understand the Martian atmosphere and improve their weather models, informa el Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
Using data from the images, mission scientists determined that this particular dust devil was about 4 kilometers away, at a location nicknamed “Thorofare Ridge,” and was moving from east to west at about 19 kph. They calculated that its width was about 60 meters.. And although only the lower 118 meters of the whirlpool are visible in the camera frame, scientists were also able to estimate its total height.
“We don’t see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it casts gives us a good indication of its height,” said Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, and a member of the Perseverance Science Team. “Most of them are vertical columns. If this dust devil was configured that way, Its shadow would indicate that it is approximately 2 kilometers high.”
Dust devils, which also occur on Earth, form when rising cells of warm air mix with descending columns of cooler air. Martian versions can become much larger than those found on Earth. And although they are most prominent during the spring and summer months (the northern hemisphere of Mars, where Perseverance is located, is currently in summer), Scientists cannot predict when they will appear in a specific location.
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