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A NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars has captured strange claw-like marks on the planet’s surface, revealing more details about a meteorological phenomenon.
The images, collected by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, show traces of dust devils across the dunes of Galle Crater, also known as the “happy face crater” due to the positioning of the mountain clusters within it.
Martian dust devils were first discovered in 1985 by the Viking Orbiter and have since been studied to better understand the climate of Mars.
“On Mars as on Earth, dust devils are eddies caused by the sun heating the ground, causing convective lifting of the air that has acquired heat from the ground,” NASA explained.
‘Observations from Martian dust devils provide information on wind direction and the interaction between the surface and the atmosphere.’
Unlike tornadoes, dust devils occur on sunny days and are not typically associated with storms.
NASA has already observed dust devils reaching a height of 20 km.
The latest photographs were taken in September 2018, but have just been published by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
Dust devils on Mars have been measured up to 20km high
(NASA / JPL / UArizona)
The unusual formations are the result of darker dust beneath a lighter surface dust being stirred by the eddies.
“Our goal is to monitor the dark dust devil’s tracks on bright dunes that have a strange distribution in Galle Crater,” said a description of the images on the University of Arizona website.
“The dunes seem to be eroded by the wind (streaks or stratifications?) With gullies emerging from the southern dunes. The color contrast between the dunes and the dust devil tracks can provide insight into the formation of the dunes and the beginning of the dust devil. “
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Studying dust devils can inform scientists of surface changes on Mars and provide an indication of weather patterns.
Understanding how dust moves on the surface can explain how and where dunes can form, allowing space agencies and companies to better plan landing sites and even potential areas for establishing future colonies.
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