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:
“Dust rises from the main road and old Délira is stooping in front of her hut. She doesn’t look up, she softly shakes her head, her headkerchief all askew, letting out a strand of grey hair powdered, it appears, with the same dust pouring through her fingers like a rosary of misery. She repeats, “we will all die”, and she calls on the good Lord.”
—Jacques Roumain (1907–1945)
“The reason Milton wrote in fetters when he wrote of Angels & God, and at liberty when of Devils & Hell, is because he was a true Poet, and of the Devil’s party without knowing it.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)