PIA02378: Dust Devils Seen Streaking Across Mars: PART II--They're the Work of the Devil!
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter
 Instrument:  Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
 Product Size:  512 x 5000 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Producer ID:  MOC2-220D MRPS96080 P50777
 Addition Date:  2000-04-24
 Primary Data Set:  MGS EDRs
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA02378.tif (2.376 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA02378.jpg (597.9 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

In December 1999, the MOC team finally had an answer! A dust devil, shown in the above left figure, was caught in the act of creating a swirly, dark streak! An eerie sensation washed over the first team members who saw this picture -- here was an event on Mars "caught in the act" just hours before the picture was played back to Earth. A "smoking gun."

The first dust devil seen making a streak -- located in Promethei Terra (above, left) -- was traveling from right (east) to left (west). A columnar shadow was cast by sunlight coming from the upper left. This shadow indicates the true shape of the dust devil. The bright dust devil itself does not look like a column because the picture was taken from a camera looking straight down on it. The dust devil is less than 100 meters (less than 100 yards) wide and the picture covers an area approximately 1.5 by 1.7 kilometers (about 1 by 1 mile).

Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of wind that move across the landscape, pick up dust, and look somewhat like miniature tornadoes. Dust devils are a common occurrence in dry and desert landscapes on Earth as well as Mars. They form when the ground heats up during the day, warming the air immediately above the surface. As the warmed air nearest the surface begins to rise, it spins. The spinning column begins to move across the surface and picks up loose dust (if any is present). The dust makes the vortex visible and gives it the "dust devil" or tornado-like appearance. On Earth, dust devils typically last for only a few minutes.

The fourth picture (above, right) shows a surface in southwestern Terra Sirenum near 63°S, 168°W, that has seen the activity of so many dust devils that it looks like a plate of dark gray spaghetti. This image, taken in early summer during February 2000, covers an area 3 km wide and 30 km long (1.9 by 19 miles). In fact, a dust devil can be seen in the upper right of this image. Like the other pictures shown here, the Terra Sirenum image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/MSSS

Image Addition Date:
2000-04-24