PIA05085: The Unpredictable Weather on Mars
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Spirit
 Instrument:  Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  2448 x 3168 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05085.tif (331 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05085.jpg (226.4 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:

This graph shows the temperature above the surface of Mars at three different points in time: Sol 5, late afternoon; Sol 6, mid-morning; and Sol 7, early afternoon (Sol 5 occurred on the night of January 7/8, 2004). These temperature profiles were derived from data taken by the mini-thermal emission spectrometer onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. By measuring the brightness of the carbon dioxide gas that makes up the martian atmosphere, scientists can deduce the surface temperature above Mars between 20 meters (65 feet) and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). The observations show large changes in atmospheric temperature both as a function of time of day, and as a function of height near the surface.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

Image Addition Date:
2004-01-14