Clouds longer than California cross the ruddy cheeks of Mars. It looks as if the Impressionist painter filled his palette with white and drew lines across the canvas as far as the oil-based paint would go.
This is not what astrophysicist Jorge Hernández Bernal first saw with the Mars Express Visual Monitoring Camera in 2018.(opens in new window) — The European Space Agency affectionately knows it as the Mars webcam(opens in new window) — posted a new photo. To the average eye, the resolution of standard computer cameras 20 years ago was grainy and puzzling. But Bernal, who was studying Martian meteorology at the University of the Basque Country in Spain, soon recognized the shadow as something else. A strange weather phenomenon on Mars.
Mars didn’t reveal clouds in all their vast glory until researchers used better equipment to observe them. discovered. It’s been around for a long time, even during NASA’s Viking 2 mission.(opens in new window) in the 1970s.
A low-resolution camera aboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe captured the giant cloud for the first time in 2018.
Credit: ESA
The secret was knowing when to look for it.
“Some people thought the ESA was faking it,” Bernal told Mashable. “I was really young at the time, so it was a little tough. [of the discovery], and I was trying to talk to people on Twitter. “
Bernal and his team published the observation in 2020 and named it the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC for short). At 1,100 miles in length, scientists believe this type of cloud could be the longest in the solar system.That work was followed by his second report, recently published(opens in new window) in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planetsreveal how volcanoes create this extraordinary cloud, and stand alone on an otherwise cloudless southern Mars at that time of year.
NASA inflates heat shields on new-age spacecraft for Mars
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“There were people who thought the ESA was faking it.”
How Scientists Discovered Long Clouds on Mars
For decades, icy clouds reached the western slopes of Arcia Mons at sunrise.(opens in new window), an extinct volcano. The ancient mountain, which once spouted lava, is about 270 miles wide at its base and rises 11 miles into the sky. It is about half the height of Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on earth.
The strange case of the giant cloud is how it went unnoticed for so long. so the camera won’t be able to take pictures until the afternoon. By that time, the fleeting clouds that lasted only about three hours in the morning had already disappeared.
Mars Webcam was not originally intended for scientific use. Its purpose was to provide visual confirmation that ESA’s Beagle 2 lander had landed.(opens in new window) was separated from the Mars Express spacecraft in 2003. In hindsight, the space agency is glad they decided to turn the basic camera back on.(opens in new window).
A simple, unscientific camera aboard the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft captured a giant cloud.
Credit: ESA
Just as southern Mars welcomes spring, clouds grow and stretch, creating a thin tail like a steam train on top of mountains. Then within a few hours the clouds will disappear completely in the warm sunshine.
The wonders of nature have become a kind of muse for the young scientist about to complete his PhD. His realist said recreational space travel was unrealistic and perhaps unethical given the world’s climate problems, but he portrayed what clouds would look like from the ground. I couldn’t help it.
“I keep imagining what it would be like if small civilizations had this giant cloud at the same time every year. The winter solstice might be like a coat for them.”This is part of the imagination.’
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Why Mount Alcia on Mars Creates Huge Clouds
So what’s causing this strange stringy cloud?
First of all, it’s not the smoke rising from a volcanic eruption.Scientists have long known volcanoes on Mars(opens in new window) dead Rather, it is the so-called “terrain effect”, the physics of air rising over mountains and volcanoes.
Researchers performed high-resolution computer simulations of the atmospheric effects of Arcia Mons. A strong wind shakes your feet and creates a gravitational wave. Moist air is temporarily compressed and forced up the mountainside. These drafts can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour, and temperatures plummet to over 54 degrees Fahrenheit. This causes water to condense and freeze about 28 miles above the top of the volcano.
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“I keep imagining what it would be like if a small civilization had this giant cloud at the same time every year. The winter solstice might be like a coat for them.”
The giant Alcia Mons cloud returns each year in the Martian spring for about 80 days.
Credit: ESA
The atmosphere is just right for about 5-10% of the Martian year(opens in new window) Forming clouds, dusty skies help moisture cling to the air. According to the team’s model, going too early will make the air too dry. Too late and the weather can get too warm and the water can condense.
However, while the scientists’ simulations succeeded in forming clouds under Arcia Mons’ unique conditions, they were unable to reproduce the cloud’s long tail. It is said that it is the biggest question of. The mystery could be solved with a spectrometer, a spacecraft device that identifies the types of particles in matter. may be possible.
“I want to see this cloud with my own eyes, but I know where my place is,” said Bernal. “Sometimes we think of the universe as a utopia. [Earth, through] my spaceship. ”
