Martian Clouds in Action Captured by Curiosity Rover

5 years ago this month Curiosity Rover landed on Mars to look for the conditions that could have supported life and do a bit of mountaineering , well she found the conditions that could have supported life and is now doing a bit of mountaineering but along the way she's also had time to look at the Martian sky and send us back these captivating images of Marian clouds in action.


Enhanced version.

Researchers used Curiosity's Navigation Camera (Navcam) to take two sets of eight images of the sky on an early Martian morning last month. For one set, the camera pointed nearly straight up. For the other, it pointed just above the southern horizon. Cloud movement was recorded in both and was made easier to see by image enhancement.
A midday look at the sky with the same camera the same day showed no clouds

York's Charissa Campbell produced the enhanced-image sequences by generating an "average" of all the frames in each sequence, then subtracting that average from each frame, emphasizing any frame-to-frame changes. The moving clouds are also visible, though fainter, in a sequence of raw images.
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

You've got to hand it to NASA , they do build exceedingly good rovers.

What were the clouds made of ? methane

a reply to: stonerwilliam

They're made of water ice crystals.

"It is likely that the clouds are composed of crystals of water ice that condense out onto dust grains where it is cold in the atmosphere," said Curiosity science-team member John Moores of York University, Toronto, Canada. "The wisps are created as those crystals fall and evaporate in patterns known as 'fall streaks' or 'mare's tails.' While the rover does not have a way to ascertain the altitude of these clouds, on Earth such clouds form at high altitude."

The rover is still going?

That's not a rover that's.....

Just a thought... there is a 'grand canyon' there on Mars, a scratch/gouge. It would likely have eons of debris contained in it. Blown in, and unable to exit. Seems it would be a great repository of Martian life components.

The clouds look promising however. Hopefully if we can keep from blowing our selves to smithereens, we might someday have more illuminating answers.

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
What were the clouds made of ? methane

Al Gore should go and check it out

a reply to: gortex

Beautiful images.

Mars has gone through so many changes in how we see it. It used to be totally dead and then we had the dust devils and suspicions of ice...even 'snow.' I still remember being convinced by Carlotto that there were henges and remains of monuments. Little bit embarrassed by my credulity on that one, but it was a great feeling to believe we'd explore them.



It's an exciting time for space exploration!

a reply to: Kandinsky

That's a cool picture mate , Lil Devils look look like they're having fun.

I still remember being convinced by Carlotto that there were henges and remains of monuments. Little bit embarrassed by my credulity on that one, but it was a great feeling to believe we'd explore them.

Yeah , I'm with you there I even believed Hoagland way back when.
***embarrassed emo***

a reply to: gortex

Hoagland?! I'm gonna remember that so stock up on aloe vera. Muwahahah

I was listening to a show about the Kuiper Belt and there's the James Webb coming too. So much to look forward to lately. Armchair aficionado heaven

originally posted by: Kandinsky
a reply to: gortex

Hoagland?! I'm gonna remember that so stock up on aloe vera. Muwahahah

I was listening to a show about the Kuiper Belt and there's the James Webb coming too. So much to look forward to lately. Armchair aficionado heaven

It was clear a long time ago Hoagland was BS artist. He'd go on Art Bell and make tall tales so bullishly. I'd go to his site and they'd make so much s*** up. Reminds me of Trump during the campaign.

Art Bell was running a business to get listeners. I can't blame.

a reply to: jonnywhite

He was high on enthusiasm and loved his !!!!

I feel nostalgic for the Hoagland threads. They were fun.

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
What were the clouds made of ? methane

Water-ice.

Water-ice clouds were first observed in Mars' atmosphere in 1969 by Mariner 6 and Mariner 7. The Viking Landers also observed them in 1976, as did Pathfinder lander in 1997 and Spirit and Opportunity rovers around 2005-ish.