PIA25177: Curiosity's Hazcam Catches a Dusty Wind Gust
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
 Spacecraft:  Curiosity
 Instrument:  Hazcam (MSL)
 Product Size:  1024 x 768 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Space Science Institute 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA25177.tif (770.5 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA25177.jpg (123.6 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:

Click here for animation

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used one of its Hazard-Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) to catch this dusty wind gust blowing overhead on March 18, 2022, the 3,418th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Scientists believe it's a wind gust rather than a dust devil since it doesn't appear to have the trademark vorticity, or twisting, of a dust devil.

The series of images captured by the Hazcam is viewable in the top image; the bottom image shows the frames after they've been processed by change-detection software, which helps the viewer see how the wind gust moves over time.

Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. JPL manages Curiosity's mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.

For more about Curiosity, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Image Addition Date:
2022-04-06