Watch: Large Martian dust devil seen consuming much smaller one on Red Planet
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.
NASA Perseverance Rover captured the moment two dust devils consumed each other on Mars
According to NASA, dust storms occur frequently on Mars, specifically during the southern spring and summer, when it is closest to the Sun.
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.
A Martian dust devil consumes a much smaller dust devil.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI)
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.
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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 Mars.