Clouds on Mars: the NASA rover Curiosity, in his tenth year on a mission to the Red Planet, took spectacular images of clumps of ice crystals – some of which are shimmering with color – which diffuse the light of the setting sun.
Cloudy days are rare in Mars’ thin, dry atmosphere – clouds are typically found at the planet’s equator in the coldest time of the year, when Mars is farthest from the Sun in its oval orbit. But these clouds formed earlier and higher than expected: the science team of Curiosity is studying them to be able to obtain more information about the Red Planet.
Mars clouds usually rise no more than 60 kilometers and are composed of water ice. But those taken from Curiosity they have, in fact, unusual details: they are located at a higher altitude, where it is very cold, which indicates that they are probably made of frozen carbon dioxide or dry ice.
Sometimes you just need to stop and watch the clouds roll by… on Mars.
Cloudy days are rare here because the atmosphere is so thin and dry, but I’ve been keeping my cameras peeled and wanted to share some recent pictures with you. https://t.co/Gtgz9Iu822 (1/4) pic.twitter.com/iJOLmnXMVo
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) May 28, 2021
As NASA writes, “the thin, rippling structures of these clouds are easier to see with the black and white navigation camera images of Curiosity. But it is the color images of the Mast Camera, or Mastcam of the rover that really shine, literally ». Seen after dark, these “noctilucent” clouds become brighter when they are filled with crystals, and then darken when the position of the Sun drops below their altitude.
They have also been immortalized iridescent clouds or “mother of pearl”. “If you see a cloud with a series of sparkling pastel colors, it’s because the particles in the cloud are all nearly identical in size,” explained the scientist of the Space Science Institute of Boulder, Colorado, Mark Lemmon. “It usually happens right after the clouds have formed and all grew at the same speed.”
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