Martian Dust Devils
Dust devils also occur on Mars (see Dust Devil Tracks) and were first photographed by the Viking orbiters in the 1970s. In 1997, the Mars Pathfinder lander detected a dust devil passing over it. In the image shown here, photographed by the Mars Global Surveyor, the long dark streak is formed by a moving swirling column of Martian atmosphere. The dust devil itself (the black spot) is climbing the crater wall. The streaks on the right are sand dunes on the crater floor.
Martian dust devils can be up to fifty times as wide and ten times as high as terrestrial dust devils, and large ones may pose a threat to terrestrial technology sent to Mars.
Mission members monitoring the Spirit rover on Mars reported on March 12, 2005, that a lucky encounter with a dust devil had cleaned the solar panels of that robot. Power levels dramatically increased and daily science work was anticipated to be expanded. A similar phenomenon (solar panels mysteriously cleaned of accumulated dust) had previously been observed with the Opportunity rover, and dust devils had also been suspected as the cause.
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A dust devil on Mars, photographed by Mars Global Surveyor.
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Martian dust devils cause twisting dark trails on the Martian surface.
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Serpent Dust Devil of Mars by HiRISE camera on NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Read more about this topic: Dust Devil
Famous quotes containing the words dust and/or devils:
“The freedom of indifference, the indifference of freedom, the will dust in the dust of its object, the act a handful of sand let fall—these were some of the shapes he had sighted, sunset landfall after many days.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)
“O sinewy silver biplane, nudging the wind’s withers!
There, from Kill Devils Hill at Kitty Hawk
Two brothers in their twinship left the dune;
Warping the gale, the Wright wind wrestlers veered
Capeward, then blading the wind’s flank, banked and spun.”
—Hart Crane (1899–1932)