What is this "strange" cloud on Mars? New NASA photograph reveals fascinating meteorology lesson
NASA’s latest Astronomy Picture of the Day depicts a famous 930-mile-long cloud hovering above the Martian surface
What mysteries lurk in the skies above Mars? A recent photograph from NASA has unveiled a curious cloud formation that sheds new light on the Red Planet's meteorology. The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC) is a colossal water-ice cloud that stretches over 930 miles in length and 93 miles in width, covering a massive swath of the Martian landscape.
Forming daily downwind of Arsia Mons, an extinct volcano standing 12.4 miles tall, the cloud begins its life on the western slope before rapidly expanding for three hours after sunrise. Eventually, it detaches from the volcano and evaporates as temperatures rise in the late morning. First captured by the Viking Orbiter 2 in 1977, today's image, taken by Mars Express in 2018, provides a much clearer view of this enigmatic phenomenon.
Aster Cowart, a planetary geologist at the Planetary Science Institute, explains that the photograph was captured during the spacecraft's 18,627th orbit while it studied the surface, atmosphere, and climate of Mars. Utilizing its High Resolution Stereo Camera, which employs a "pushbroom" scanner design to scan the surface line by line, the Mars Express orbiter beamed back multi-angle, near-simultaneous 3D stereo imagery alongside four distinct color channels.
NASA's continued study of AMECs using the Mars Express could not only deepen our understanding of how these clouds form on Mars but also potentially reveal insights into cloud formation on Earth as well.
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