New NASA Photo Captures Dust Devil Swirling On Mars

NASA was able to take a rare photo of a dust devil on Mars. Based on the image, scientists working with the agency believe the Martian whirlwind reached a height of over 2,000 feet.

The latest photo of the dust devil on the Red Planet was captured using the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera mounted on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The natural phenomenon was spotted in the volcanic plains of Mars’ Amazonis Planitia.

Given Mars’ dusty environment, dust devils commonly form on the Red Planet. Tracks left behind by whirlwinds on the Martian surface can be commonly seen in images taken by HiRISE. However, capturing an image of a dust devil in motion is pretty rare.

Last week, the HiRISE team from the University of Arizona shared the latest image of a dust devil on Mars. It was captured by the MRO as it orbited the Red Planet.

According to the scientists, dust devils naturally form on Earth and Mars when rotating columns of dust form around pockets of low-pressure air. Based on the photo captured by the MRO, the scientists noted that the dust devil could be about 164 feet wide. After measuring the shadow that it created, they believe it reached a height of around 2,132 feet.

“The dust devil is bright, and its core is roughly 50 meters across,” Sharon Wilson of the University of Arizona explained in a blog post. “The dark streak on the ground behind the dust devil is its shadow. The length of the shadow suggests the plume of rotating dust rises about 650 meters into the atmosphere!”

The dust devil photographed in Amazonis Planitia isn’t the first one spotted in the region. Back in 2012, the MRO was able to photograph a towering dust devil moving across the Martian surface. It followed a zigzagging path, leaving behind a serpentine shadow on the ground.

Based on the length created by the dust devil’s shadow, scientists believe the giant whirlwind was about half a mile tall. It created a dust plume that was almost a hundred feet wide.