TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Research has been conducted on the life cycle of clouds in Mars using the camera on the Mars Express spacecraft of the European Space Agency (ESA). The results were disclosed in the last edition of JGR Planets Journal.
A member of the research team, Agustin Sanchez-Lavega from the University of the Basque Country, Spain, mentioned the advantages of the ‘Mars webcam’ used in the observation. According to him, many Mars orbiters cannot observe parts of the planet’s surface until late afternoon due to the nature of its orbit.
“So this is really the first detailed exploration of an interesting feature,” he said, as quoted by CNET, March 10, 2021.
The ephemeral nature of clouds and the orbits of spacecraft around Mars makes research difficult. The Mars webcam — better known as the Visual Monitoring Camera — has the resolution of a 2003 computer webcam, but also has a wide field of view. That’s why researchers use them to study clouds.
The cameras are capable of recording clouds that appear during Mars’ spring and their ranges of up to 1,120 miles (1,800 kilometers). According to the ESA, it is the largest ‘orographic’ cloud ever seen on Mars. Such clouds are formed by winds being pushed upwards by topographic features.
“These topographical features are like mountains or volcanoes on a planet’s surface,” ESA said.
Clouds go through a daily growth cycle that starts before sunrise. The images provided also show the rapid expansion rate as it extends from Arsia Mons, volcano located in the southernmost of the three volcanoes on Tharsis near the equator of the planet Mars, which then evaporates as the day warms up.
According to Sanchez-Lavega, the team got orographic clouds on Earth, but they were judged not to be ‘wild’ on Mars. “Understanding these clouds provides us with an exciting opportunity to try to replicate cloud formation with models that will enhance our knowledge of the climate systems on Mars and Earth,” he said.
The wild and winding cloud stretches for 1,100 miles from its appearance at Arsia Mons. This also answers the events of three years ago when experts thought there was a large volcanic eruption on Mars.
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Cloud long and thin at the top the Arsia Mons volcano on Mars is said to appear seasonally. “And now scientists have a better look at how those clouds form and disappear.”
CNET | ESA | JGR PLANETS
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