Latest news with #MarkLemmon
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch: Large Martian dust devil seen consuming much smaller one on Red Planet
Scientists have captured a weather phenomenon on Mars that has caught the attention of the space community. A navigation camera onboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover observed a dust devil on the Red Planet. Nasa footage shows one small dust devil being consumed by another larger one. "If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker," said Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. When NASA captured the footage on Jan. 25, the tiny dust devil measured about 16 feet wide, while the larger one measured approximately 210 feet wide. NASA has even captured the first audio recordings of a dust devil on Mars. "Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns," said Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. According to NASA officials, dust storms occur frequently on Mars, particularly during its Southern spring and summer when the planet is closest to the Sun. "These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area," Lemmon said. Countdown Underway For Rocket Launch Of Star-studded All-female Crew As stated by NASA, since the first landing in 2021, the Perseverance Mars rover has captured shots of whirlwinds on many occasions. The images look strangely similar to the dust devils seen on Earth. Despite the size of the Martian twisters, the dust devils would feel like a gust of wind passing through due to Mars' thin atmosphere, says Priya Patel, a member of NASA's Mars 2020 Atmospheres Team. Whenever scientists find a dust devil on the Red Planet, it helps improve their knowledge and climate models of article source: Watch: Large Martian dust devil seen consuming much smaller one on Red Planet
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch: Large Martian dust devil seen consuming much smaller one on Red Planet
Scientists have captured a weather phenomenon on Mars that has caught the attention of the space community. A navigation camera onboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover observed a dust devil on the Red Planet. Nasa footage shows one small dust devil being consumed by another larger one. "If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker," said Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado. When NASA captured the footage on Jan. 25, the tiny dust devil measured about 16 feet wide, while the larger one measured approximately 210 feet wide. NASA has even captured the first audio recordings of a dust devil on Mars. "Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns," said Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. According to NASA officials, dust storms occur frequently on Mars, particularly during its Southern spring and summer when the planet is closest to the Sun. "These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area," Lemmon said. Countdown Underway For Rocket Launch Of Star-studded All-female Crew As stated by NASA, since the first landing in 2021, the Perseverance Mars rover has captured shots of whirlwinds on many occasions. The images look strangely similar to the dust devils seen on Earth. Despite the size of the Martian twisters, the dust devils would feel like a gust of wind passing through due to Mars' thin atmosphere, says Priya Patel, a member of NASA's Mars 2020 Atmospheres Team. Whenever scientists find a dust devil on the Red Planet, it helps improve their knowledge and climate models of article source: Watch: Large Martian dust devil seen consuming much smaller one on Red Planet
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Watch: 2 dust devils collide on Mars in rare case of extraterrestrial cannibalism
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's Perseverance rover recently had a front-row seat to a rare case of Martian cannibalism: It filmed a massive, swirling "dust devil" engulfing a smaller twister on the Red Planet. The roaming robot captured the epic encounter on Jan. 25, on the 1,399th sol (Martian day) of its mission. In the video, a smaller devil, which is barely visible in the images, follows in the wake of a larger twister (moving from left to right), before getting too close and being sucked into the larger vortex. The rover was around 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) from the pair when this happened. The larger devil is estimated to measure around 210 feet (65 meters) wide, while the smaller cone appears to be just 16 feet (5 m) across. It is unclear how tall they were as they were cut off by the rover's field of view. However, a dust devil previously filmed by Perseverance — and with a width almost identical to the larger devil — was predicted to be around 1.2 miles (2 km) tall, or around five times taller than the Empire State Building. "Convective vortices — aka dust devils — can be rather fiendish," Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance senior research scientist with the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a NASA statement. "These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area." Related: Listen to a Martian dust storm engulf the Perseverance rover in eerie, world-first audio recording It is very rare for two dust devils to collide with one another, but when it happens, there are two possible outcomes: "If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker," Lemmon said. "If you feel bad for the little devil in our latest video, it may give you some solace to know the larger perpetrator most likely met its own end a few minutes later," he added. "Dust devils on Mars only last about 10 minutes." The largest devil was likely spinning at a max speed of more than 10 mph (16 km/h), based on data collected from previous sightings. Dust devils are formed by warm air rising from the planet's sun-heated surface. As the air rises, cooler air rushes down to replace it, which is then heated and rises again. This cycle creates a column of rising air that starts to spin increasingly quickly. This phenomenon also occurs on Earth, though the results are usually far less dramatic. "When the incoming air rises into the column, it picks up speed like a spinning ice skater bringing their arms closer to their body," NASA representatives wrote in the statement. "The air rushing in also picks up dust, and a dust devil is born." When the new video was taken, Perseverance was deliberately scouring the horizon in search of the spinning devils to help gather data that can help researchers learn more about this phenomenon. "Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns," Katie Stack Morgan, a project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in the statement. RELATED STORIES —NASA's Perseverance rover may already have found signs of life on Mars, discovery of ancient lake sediments reveals —In a 1st, NASA's Perseverance rover makes breathable oxygen on Mars —NASA's Perseverance rover loses its hitchhiking 'pet rock' after more than a year together on Mars Studying them is important because "these phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing wind directions and speed, and are responsible for about half the dust in the Martian atmosphere," she added. NASA's Viking orbiters captured the first-ever images of Martian dust devils in the 1970s, as the spacecraft spied the swirling structures from space. However, Perseverance has captured some of the best videos of these mini-twisters, including a swarm of around a dozen funnels in July 2021. The rover also captured the first audio recording of a Martian dust devil in September 2021.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Perseverance rover watches as 2 Mars dust devils merge into 1 (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA's Perseverance Mars rover captured a giant dust devil devouring a smaller storm swirling close behind it on the rim of Jezero Crater. Martian dust devils are spinning columns of warm air that pick up dust and debris as they move across the surface of the Red Planet. Perseverance spied the two merging storms on Jan. 25, while exploring the western rim of Mars' Jezero Crater at a location called "Witch Hazel Hill." "Convective vortices — aka dust devils — can be rather fiendish," Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement from NASA sharing the video footage of the merging storms. "These mini-twisters wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area," Lemmon added. "If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker." Related: Perseverance rover: Everything you need to know RELATED STORIES: — Perseverance rover spots its 1st dust devil on Mars — Perseverance Mars rover figures out how devils and winds fill the Red Planet's skies with dust — Mars dust storm mysteries remain as scientists study the Red Planet Perseverance captured images of the Red Planet storms using one of its navigation cameras. The rover was about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) from the two merging storms, which were approximately 16 feet (5 meters) wide and 210 feet (65 m) wide, respectively. "Dust devils play a significant role in Martian weather patterns," Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in the statement. "Dust devil study is important because these phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing wind directions and speed, and are responsible for about half the dust in the Martian atmosphere." In addition to the two merging dust storms captured in the video foreground, two other dust devils can be seen in the background to the left and center, highlighting just how frequently such storms occur on Mars.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Science
- USA Today
NASA's Perseverance rover captures 'fiendish' dueling dust devils on Mars: See video
NASA's Perseverance rover captures 'fiendish' dueling dust devils on Mars: See video In a short video released Thursday by NASA, the two dust devils can be seen swirling and spinning on the rim of a feature known as the Jezero Crater. Show Caption Hide Caption Martian dust devil caught by NASA rover A Martian dust devil was captured rolling across the planet's surface by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. NASA/JPL-Caltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/INTA-CSIC/Space Science Institute/ISAE-Supaero/University of Arizona A six-wheeled robot wandering the rugged terrain of Mars recently came across two small tornadoes whipping around the planet's surface. In a short video released Thursday by NASA, the two dust devils can be seen swirling and spinning on the rim of a feature known as the Jezero Crater. The landmark is famous as being the landing site of Perseverance, a Martian rover NASA sent to explore the planet about four years ago. Perseverance, about the size of a car, captured the whirling twisters in January about a month after completing an arduous trek from the bottom of the crater up to its rim. Dust devils are common occurrences on the Martian surface that NASA has regularly observed since the 1970s with rovers on the ground and orbiters from above. But what makes Perseverance's most recent sighting of the phenomenon stand out is that in the footage, one larger dust devil appears to eat the other. Mars rover captures small tornadoes Video of the larger dust devil consuming a smaller one was compiled from a series of images Perseverance captured with one of its exterior navigation cameras on its mast, which helps engineers back on Earth steer the rover remotely. When the rover snapped the images Jan. 25 from little more than a half-mile away, the larger twister was about 210 feet wide, while the smaller one trailing it was roughly 16 feet wide. Two other dust devils can also be seen in the background at left and center. At the time, Perseverance's science team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California was using the rover to study and understand the forces at play in Mars' atmosphere. Exploring Mars: Perseverance, Curiosity rovers make separate finds pointing to past life on Red Planet What causes Martian dust devils to form? Dust devils, more officially known as convective vortices, are common features on the surface of Mars that have been regularly observed for decades. These swirling features are formed by rising and rotating columns of warm air that picks up dust as they begin to spin. The "fiendish" mini-twisters "wander the surface of Mars, picking up dust as they go and lowering the visibility in their immediate area," Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said in a statement. Because the Martian atmosphere is so thin, being caught in such a dust devil would feel like being hit by a gust of wind – albeit a dirty one. If two dust devils happen upon each other, as happened in January, they will either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker. Perseverance, which has imaged dusty whirlwinds many times since 2021, famously used its SuperCam microphone to record the first sounds of a Martian dust devil. But just because dust devils are common doesn't make them easy to capture. Scientists can't predict when they'll appear, and when they do, they only last about 10 minutes, so Perseverance routinely monitors in all directions for them. What to know about Perseverance In July 2020, the Perseverance rover underwent a 200-day, 300-million-mile journey to reach Mars. After landing in February 2021 in the Jezero Crater, the robot, controlled remotely from Earth, spent nearly four years searching for and collecting more than two dozen rock samples – many of which are stored at the first-ever depot on another planet for future retrieval. The bottom of the Jezero Crater – believed to have formed 3.9 billion years ago from a massive impact – is considered to be among the most promising areas on Mars to search for evidence of ancient life. Perseverance's adventures have revealed some insights about the enigmatic Martian geology. Now, after years in the trenches of Jezero, Perseverance in December finally summitted the steep Martian crater to begin the next leg of its journey exploring the crater's rim. NASA and the European Space Agency hope to one day soon retrieve these samples and bring them back to Earth before humans themselves venture to the Red Planet. Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@
