One would think that with barely hundredth the atmosphere Earth has Mars would have somewhat lame weather condition … if any . But it does n’t take much to whip up a respectable violent storm . Just look at the monster gumption dunes that the winds on Mars pull off to make . If they can do that , it ’s maybe less surprising that Mars ’ weather might be more interesting than you might at first suppose .
Click any picture to enlarge !
Speaking of the nothingness on Mars , that ’s as estimable a place to begin as any . Winds on Mars can have speeds of up to 50 mph normally—-and up to 125 mph during a dust storm . But if you really require to experience what Mars can come up with , Mariner Valley would be a great place to start . The monster 3000 - Swedish mile - wide canyon ( rift valley , if want to be donnish ) is so long that one final stage will be well into the night side of Mars while the other terminal is still in full sunshine . The temperature difference can cause terrific winds to barrel down the canyon … at velocities gain the speed of audio on the planet . Mars ’ winds might not knock you over , but they could likely have you sandblast down to a nubbin in no sentence . More realistically , they might sandblast the face denture of your helmet to opacity . And then where will you be ?
The tenuous atmosphere is perfectly capable of abide a lot dust ( which is credibly talcum - like after 1.2 zillion years of corroding ) , evidenced by Mars ’ notable pink sky . Get some serious idle words involved and you could get a ok detritus storm . A dust violent storm so prominent , in fact , that the entire planet might be covered from pole to perch . This fall out during the first fly - by of Mars . When Mariner 4 arrived at Mars in 1964 , scientists were appall at the first photos sent back to earth . The planet looked like a clue ball . A monster dust violent storm had blanket the planet : nothing was seeable but for three or four dark blot . Fortunately , the violent storm cleared before the fly front - by was over , revealing the blue spots to be the meridian of gigantic volcano so in high spirits they protruded above the miles - inscrutable cloud of dust .
Most of the junk in the Martian atmosphere is carried there by rubble devils and detritus tornadoes . These come out to trip the light fantastic over the Martian landscape by the hundreds … if not thousands , leaving a myriad of dark-skinned tracks decipher over the surface , making Mars look like some kind of dune buggy pattern site . Most of these are conventional debris devils , like those you might see whirling over a playing area on a hot Summer solar day . Others , however , may develop into full - fledged detritus tornadoes no more to be mess around with than their Kansas cousins .
The Martian sky can be replete with even clouds , too , made of H2O vapor or ice crystal just like on earth . At night , thin , icy , stratospheric clouds will beam eerily in the nearly black sky . They are in high spirits enough to be still illuminated by the sun even though the landscape around you is pitch dismal . Glowing clouds like these are call “ noctilucent clouds ” and are a very pretty but fairly rare sight on earth .
watch glass of ice — water and carbon dioxide — fill the aura , especially above the rod . These can create all sorts of interesting optic phenomena as sunshine pass through them . halo and sundogs are plebeian sights in terrestrial skies ( where they are all too often false for UFOs ) . The same thing would occur as sunlight is refracted by the ice crystals in Mars ’ sky . But what you see might take care unfamiliar . This is because most of the crank crystal would be carbon dioxide , and carbon dioxide crystal have a very unlike shape than piss quartz glass . This would leave in haloes and sundogs unlike those in tellurian sky .
peradventure the most familiar and place - similar weather you might have on Mars would be a full old - fashioned snow tempest . Even if that snow is mostly teetotal ice at -109 degree F !
ExogeologyMarsScienceWeather
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