PIA16454: Regional Dust Storm Weakening, Nov. 25, 2012
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  MARCI
 Product Size:  2881 x 1441 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Malin Space Science Systems
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA16454.tif (12.46 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA16454.jpg (266 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:

A regional dust storm visible in the southern hemisphere of Mars in this nearly global mosaic of observations made by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 25, 2012, has contracted from its size a week earlier (PIA16450).

Small white arrows outline the area where dust from the storm is apparent in the atmosphere. Locations of NASA's Mars rovers Opportunity and Curiosity are labeled. A newer, smaller dust storm is visible northwest of Opportunity.

Black areas in the mosaic are the result of data drops or high angle roll maneuvers by the orbiter that limit the camera's view of the planet. Equally-spaced blurry areas that run from south-to-north (bottom-to-top) result from the high off-nadir viewing geometry, a product of the spacecraft's low-orbit.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, provided and operates the Mars Color Imager. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft.

For more information about the missions of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, visit http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Image Addition Date:
2012-11-27