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PIA04698: Summertime Dust 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:  600 x 900 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA04698.tif (540.8 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04698.jpg (129.1 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:

MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-464, 26 August 2003

Dust devils are spinning, columnar vortices of air that move across a landscape, picking up dust as they go. They are common occurrences during summer on Mars. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image, acquired during northern summer, shows a dust devil in the Phlegra region of Mars near 32.0°N, 182.1°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the dust devil is casting a columnar shadow toward the upper right. Some dust devils on Mars make streaks as they disrupt the fine coating of dust on the surface--but others do not make streaks. This one did not make a streak. The view shown here is 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

Image Addition Date:
2003-08-27