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Tag Archives: clouds
Meteors help make Mars clouds
How did the Red Planet get all of its clouds? CU Boulder researchers may have discovered the secret: just add meteors. Astronomers have long observed clouds in Mars’ middle atmosphere, which begins about 18 miles (30 kilometers) above the surface, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, mesospheric clouds, meteoritic dust, meteoritic smoke, meteors, water ice clouds
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Mars’ water-ice clouds thicken toward evening
[Editor’s note: From a paper by Michael Smith recently published in Icarus.] Local time variation of water ice clouds on Mars as observed by THEMIS • The local time variation of cloud optical depth is examined from THEMIS observations. • … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Arizona State University, ASU, atmosphere, clouds, Mars Odyssey, NASA, THEMIS, Thermal Emission Imaging System, water ice, water ice clouds
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MARCI weather report, June 3-9, 2019
Last week on Mars, dust storm activity continued along the edge of the receding seasonal north polar ice cap. Near the beginning of the week, a regional-scale dust storm occurred over the eastern Arcadia region and spread both southward to … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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MARCI weather report, May 27-June 2, 2019
There was a slight uptick in dust activity this past week on Mars. The week began with a couple of arcuate-shaped dust storms extending over the retreating seasonal north polar ice cap in Acidalia and Arcadia. Looking to the southern … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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Curiosity update: A many-layered plan
Sols 2427-28, June 5, 2019, update by MSL scientist Claire Newman: The main focus of today’s plan was observations of the interbedded thick and thin layers we found at Woodland Bay before we drive away again, perhaps as early as … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aeolis Mons, atmosphere, Avon, CBU, clay-bearing unit, clouds, Crakaig, Curiosity, Deeside, Gale Crater, Glen Torridon, Lochgilphead, Mars Science Laboratory, Mons Graupius, Morningside, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Olrig, Tobermory, West Side, Woodland Bay
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Curiosity catches clouds, and a cache of clay
NASA’s Curiosity rover has confirmed that the region on Mars it’s exploring, called the “clay-bearing unit,” is well deserving of its name. Two samples the rover recently drilled at rock targets called “Aberlady” and “Kilmarie” have revealed the highest amounts … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged Aberlady, Aeolis Mons, atmosphere, CBU, clay-bearing unit, clouds, Curiosity, Gale Crater, Glen Torridon, Kilmarie, Mars Science Laboratory, Mount Sharp, MSL, Murray Formation, NASA, Vera Rubin Ridge
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MARCI weather report, May 20-26, 2019
Last week on Mars, water ice clouds and small dust-lifting events continued to be observed along the retreating seasonal north polar ice cap edge. Near the end of the week, larger pulses of dust activity were spotted over the plains … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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MARCI weather report, May 13-19, 2019
Afternoon condensate water-ice clouds continued to be the dominant feature over all the major Martian volcanoes this past week. A few arcuate dust storms were observed along the edge of the seasonal north polar ice cap. On the other side … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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MARCI weather report, May 6-12, 2019
We are now well into northern spring, and dust storm activity is picking up in the northern hemisphere. Numerous dust storms were observed near the seasonal north polar cap edge (presently ~60° N) throughout the past week. Several of these … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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MARCI weather report, April 22-28, 2019
For the past week on Mars, numerous local-scale dust storms of varied size occurred along the southern highlands — below 50° S. latitude. Looking to the northern hemisphere, dust-lifting activity was more sporadic. A couple of arcuate (bow-shaped) dust storms … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, clouds, dust, dust storms, haze, Malin Space Science Systems, MARCI, Mars Color Imager, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, MSSS, NASA, storms, weather, wind
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