Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Mars Mystery Plumes



In 2012 Amateur astronomers using telescopes on Earth were the first to report cloud-like plumes that reached heights of 155 miles above the surface of Mars. The feature developed in less than 10 hours, covered an area of up to 621 x 311 miles, and remained visible for around 10 days.

Frozen carbon dioxide and water are not thought to be able to form clouds of 155 miles high in the atmosphere.

The high altitude corresponds to the ionosphere, where the atmosphere directly interacts with the incoming solar wind of electrically charged atomic particles.  

Get complete article at the ESA page HERE

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