Just before sunrise on the 738th Sol of the mission—a Martian day—Perseverance NASA’s Rover discovered floating clouds on Mars. The pictures were taken with the rover’s navigation camera. Perseverance and Curiosity, two NASA rovers that are now exploring the surface of the planet, have both previously observed clouds there. The US space agency earlier this month unveiled photographs of “God Rays,” or Sun rays caused by clouds blocking a low-lying Sun, which were taken for the first time on the planet. The Curiosity rover is the one that took the pictures.
In particular, at an altitude of 50 and 80 kilometers, in what is known as the middle atmosphere, clouds on Mars allow scientists to investigate the conditions in the Martian atmosphere, including the temperatures, winds, and composition. Because the atmosphere is only 1% as dense as that of the Earth, clouds are uncommon on Mars.
New insights into Mars’ cloud formations revealed by spacecraft imagery
Similar to clouds on Earth, those on Mars are constructed of water ice. But, in higher altitudes where temperatures are sufficiently low, clouds consisting of dry ice, or carbon dioxide ice, can also form. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express, two spacecraft in orbit around the planet, have taken pictures of the atmosphere of the Red Planet’s clouds from above.
The atmosphere on Earth is dense and abundant in oxygen and nitrogen, but the fragile atmosphere of Mars is mostly made of carbon dioxide. In the past, Mars’ atmosphere was much thicker, and the planet’s surface hosted rivers, lakes, and possibly even seas of liquid water. Both Curiosity and Perseverance have discovered evidence pointing to the planet wet history, but it is still unknown what happened to the water and where it went.
Mars typically has a thin, dry atmosphere, and cloudy days are uncommon. Yet during the coldest season of the year, when the planet is farthest from the Sun in its oval-shaped orbit, clouds are often found at the planet’s equatorThe little water that is still on the surface may be lofted into the atmosphere by a variety of mechanisms, where it may create clouds. Via the citizen science project called cloud spotting on the planet , which is housed on Zooniverse, interested readers can see clouds on the planet for themselves.
On the 738th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, the six-wheeled rover used one of its navigation cameras to detect images of floating clouds, according to a statement from mission authorities.
Perseverance and NASA’s teeny Ingenuity chopper touched down on the bottom of the 45-kilometer-wide (28-mile-wide) Jezero Crater, which once had a sizable lake and a river delta earlier. Researchers on the Perseverance and Curiosity rover missions are looking at how Mars clouds are formed.
The Curiosity rover photographed glistening clouds on the planet last year. The pictures showed airy puffs loaded with ice crystals that reflected the sun’s fading light, some of which shone with color. On the 3,048th Martian day (or sol) of the mission, the rover’s Mast Camera, or Mastcam, captured color photos and the mother-of-pearl clouds.
The navigation cameras on the Curiosity mast also recorded black-and-white images on the 3,075th sol or Martian day of the mission: delicate, rippling cloud formations shortly after sunset. Curiosity, a spacecraft that touched down on Mars in 2012, was created to investigate whether or not microbes might have ever flourished on the planet.
Read more on : https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8956/nasas-curiosity-rover-captures-shining-clouds-on-mars/
