Mars Mystery Explained: If There's No Water, Why Are There Clouds?

Clouds on Earth often mean one thing: the planet has enough evaporated water to cause rain. On planet Mars, however, could the same theory explain all the wispy clouds seen from photos sent by NASA's Mars InSight lander and Curiosity rover? Not really.

According to CNET, there’s another explanation for how a dry and dusty planet like Mars could have clouds hovering above its surface. Based on research conducted by graduate students at the University of Colorado Boulder, the clouds may have been formed by meteoric smoke.

"Clouds don't just form on their own. They need something that they can condense on to," Victoria Hartwick, research lead, said. The team explained that the meteoric smoke is caused by “mashed meteors” or icy dust that form when rocks collide while in the planet’s atmosphere.

The clouds, which form along the Red Planet’s middle atmosphere or around 30 kilometers above Mars’ ground, is said to be formed via a daily occurrence wherein tons of space debris crash into Mars. According to Hartwick, the dust forms when the meteors blast as it smashes against each other.

This theory is actually not new as the same concept can also be applied on Earth wherein dust particles often act as seeds which water vapor needs to condense and form clouds.

To prove the theory, the team ran computer simulations of how the Martian clouds are formed and what’s interesting is that the clouds figure only when they add meteors into their calculation. The full report first appeared in Nature Geoscience and is proven useful for more detailed research of Mars’ atmosphere.

The search for water on the Red Planet is a crucial part of NASA’s Mars mission as it can spell out the difference between success and disaster in the future. Water would be needed for astronaut survival and to determine if it’s possible to start a human colony on the Red Planet.

For years, scientists have tried to prove that there is water on Planet Mars. There have been close calls but need further research to prove 100 percent that there’s water on the planet.

For example, NASA’s Curiosity rover recently stumbled on evidence of an ancient lake on the Red Planet. According to a blog post from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the rover has stumbled on two rock samples they called “Aberlady” and “Kilmarie” which is said to contain high amounts of clay minerals that have ever been found in one mission. The presence of clay is a crucial discovery because the only way it can be formed is with water.