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Curiosity Spots a Dust Devil in the Hills
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Caption:
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spotted this dust devil with one of its Navigation Cameras around 11:35 a.m. local Mars time on Aug. 9, 2020 (the 2,847th Martian day, or sol, of the mission). The frames in this GIF were shot over 4 minutes and 15 seconds.
Taken from the "Mary Anning" drill site, this dust devil appears to be passing through small hills just above Curiosity's present location on Mount Sharp. The dust devil is approximately one-third to a half-mile (half-a-kilometer to a kilometer) away and estimated to be about 16 feet (5 meters) wide. The dust plume disappears past the top of the frame, so an exact height can't be known, but it's estimated to be at least 164 feet (50 meters) tall.
Contrast has been modified to make frame-to-frame changes easier to see.
Background Info:
For more information about Curiosity, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html .
Cataloging Keywords:
| Name | Value | Additional Values |
|---|---|---|
| Target | Mars | |
| System | ||
| Target Type | Planet | |
| Mission | Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) | |
| Instrument Host | Curiosity Rover | |
| Host Type | Rover | |
| Instrument | Navigation Camera (Navcam) | |
| Detector | ||
| Extra Keywords | Dust, Grayscale, Plume | |
| Acquisition Date | ||
| Release Date | 2020-09-01 | |
| Date in Caption | 2020-08-09 | |
| Image Credit | NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI | |
| Source | photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24039 | |
| Identifier | PIA24039 | |
