PIA05536: Isidis Dust Devil


Isidis Dust Devil

Caption:

10 March 2004
This arrow in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image points to an active dust devil observed in Isidis Planitia near 18.3°N, 268.9°W. The columnar shadow of the dust devil is visible, as is a pencil-thin (at least, pencil-thin at the scale of the image) line created by the vortex as it disrupted the dust that coats the surface. The streak indicates that the dust devil had already traveled more than 3 kilometers (1.9 miles), over craters, large ripples, and ridges, before the MOC took this picture. The dust devil was moving from the northeast (upper right) toward the southwest (lower left). Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
Instrument Host Mars Global Surveyor
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC)
Detector
Extra Keywords Crater, Dust, Grayscale, Shadow
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2004-03-10
Date in Caption 2004-03-10
Image Credit NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA05536
Identifier PIA05536