The NASA Mars -Road saw strange color clouds on Mars: scientists cannot explain them

13 February 2025, 12:44 | Technologies
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The NASA Curiosity Mars-Road took photos of mysterious red-green clouds on Mars. They are called twilight clouds, because they can only be seen when the sun comes on the red planet. But these clouds are visible only in some parts of Mars and scientists do not yet know what the reason is, Phys writes.

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Clouds on Mars are of two types: they consist either of water ice and are about 50 km, or from frozen carbon dioxide and are located at a height of 60-80 km. Only the latter can have different colors, including red and green, while clouds of water ice are mainly white.

For the first time twilight clouds on Mars discovered the NASA Pathfinder mission in 1997. Although the Curiosity Mars -Road landed on Mars in 2012, only 7 years later he first took photos of twilight clouds. They were similar to those that are visible in the new images of the Martian Heaven. Scientists have found that such clouds arise only in the southern hemisphere of Mars and when autumn occurs on the red planet.

Observations of clouds on Mars make it possible for scientists to better understand the atmosphere of the planet, which is 95% carbon dioxide..

Despite the fact that twilight clouds have long been known to scientists, they cannot understand why they arise only in the southern hemisphere of Mars and in a certain season. For example, the NASA Persevrance Mars -Road, which is located in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars has never seen these colored clouds since the landing in 2021.

Scientists believe that in some regions of Mars there may be suitable conditions for the formation of clouds from frozen carbon dioxide, which disperse sunlight, which gives them a characteristic color.

Perhaps such clouds arise due to atmospheric gravitational waves on Mars, which can cool the atmosphere, scientists believe. Carbon dioxide is so condensed into the ice that something should cool it hard. But very little is known about the Martian atmospheric gravitational waves, because this is only an assumption. On the other hand, they do not explain why twilight clouds arise only in certain places.

As Focus already wrote, Alpha Centaurus flies at a great speed to the solar system and some objects are already near us. Scientists have found that the nearest star system throws out asteroids, comets and small particles of dust and some of these objects are already near the ground.

Focus also wrote that astronomers discovered the remains of supernova in an unexpected place in the galaxy-satellite of the Milky Way. It was believed that deceased stars cannot create such objects on the outskirts of the galaxy, but new data show the opposite.

Based on materials: phys.org



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