Mars weather Archives

September 16, 2024September 16, 2024 by Mark Thompson

Mars has an Amazing Variety of Clouds

Lee waves: Lee waves are a special type of cloud created by the wind encountering obstacles and build up on the ‘leeward‘ or downwind side. The geometries of the lee waves depend on the shape of the obstacles. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin.

Mars has always held a special place in our hearts, likely from hints over the decades of perhaps finding signs of life, albeit fossilised and primitive. It’s been the subject of study from telescopes and space missions alike, most notably ESA’s Mars Express which has been observing the red planet for 20 years. Over the two decades of observation it has studied an amazing variety of atmospheric phenomenon which have now been catalogued in a new ‘Cloud Atlas.’ Many will be familiar to sky watchers on Earth but some are very different.

January 26, 2021January 25, 2021 by Paul M. Sutter

You Know it’s Spring on Mars When the Carbon Dioxide is Starting to Sublimate

The first signs of Spring in the northern polar ice cap on Mars: fans of dust launched by sublimating gas. Credit: NASA/JPL/UArizona

The northern hemisphere of Mars is beginning to thaw from winter. But for the red planet, that doesn’t mean that birds will sing and flowers will bloom. It means that the carbon dioxide will sublimate. It’s still beautiful though.

February 25, 2020February 25, 2020 by Evan Gough

InSight has been Sensing Dust Devils Sweep Past its Landing Site

The InSight lander has been on the surface of Mars for about a year, and a half dozen papers were just published outlining some results from the mission. Though InSight’s primary mission is to gather evidence on the interior of Mars—InSight stands for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport—the lander also keeps track of Martian Meteorology. A new paper reports that InSight has found gravity waves, swirling dust devils, and a steady background rumble of infrasound.