Arsia Mons Anomaly?, Recent Mars Express Imagery shows odd feature |
Arsia Mons Anomaly?, Recent Mars Express Imagery shows odd feature |
Sep 25 2018, 12:02 AM
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#1
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1453 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
Is that a Plume on Arsia Mons?
https://scilogs.spektrum.de/go-for-launch/i...-on-arsia-mons/ Images of the Tharsis region show the emergence of a new prolonged feature that appears to cast a long shadow. It is not visible in this attached image from 06 August 2018. Then we can see something newish near Arsia Mons (the vertical streak) in this image from 19 Sep 2018. And then most striking is this image from 23 Sep 2018, where it appears that a significant shadow is cast (in the direction of the streak in the last image, admittedly). I'm not familiar enough with Martian meteorology to know if this is just a normal occurrence, but it does look weird, at least to me. Hopefully someone will have ideas. If the answer to this is obvious then feel free to lock and/or delete the thread. -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Sep 25 2018, 12:16 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2113 Joined: 13-February 10 From: Ontario Member No.: 5221 |
A 2015 image shows something similar, though less dramatic, from the MOM: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-...cloud-mars.html
Seems to be just an ordinary cloud... |
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Sep 25 2018, 12:47 AM
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#3
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
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Sep 25 2018, 01:13 AM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2547 Joined: 13-September 05 Member No.: 497 |
Clouds around the Tharsis volcanoes have been observed since before spaceflight. The classical name of Olympus Mons, Nix Olympica or "The Snows of Olympus", refers to such clouds.
-------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on public information only. Any opinions are my own.
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Sep 25 2018, 01:35 AM
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#5
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1453 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
A 2015 image shows something similar, though less dramatic, from the MOM: http://www.planetary.org/multimedia/space-...cloud-mars.html That looks pretty convincing. Thanks! I apologise if I contributed to clutter on the forum. -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Sep 25 2018, 05:07 AM
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#6
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
I think that it was an excellent 'teachable moment'. It's easy to forget that Mars' atmosphere, though exceedingly thin by terrestrial standards, is still capable of producing surprisingly substantial water and CO2 clouds more frequently than might otherwise be assumed.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Sep 25 2018, 10:56 PM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 941 Joined: 4-September 06 From: Boston Member No.: 1102 |
Hungry4info--Not clutter, a learning experience for many of us following along. As they say in another context "if you see something, say something". It could be the next blue blob.
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Sep 27 2018, 01:10 PM
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#8
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Member Group: Members Posts: 247 Joined: 17-February 07 From: ESAC, cerca Madrid, Spain. Member No.: 1743 |
I work on the Mars Express mission. I can tell you that some of the scientists on the mission are pretty interested in it. So I wouldn't classify it as just another cloud.
And for us, it validates the use of the low resolution VMC camera as a real science instrument. Getting it up and running, scheduling the images and creating the automated processing stream was a lot of work. Having a global overview image can be very useful, as this cloud shows. -------------------- --
cndwrld@yahoo.com |
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Sep 27 2018, 08:07 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
It's easy to forget that Mars' atmosphere, though exceedingly thin by terrestrial standards, is still capable of producing surprisingly substantial water and CO2 clouds more frequently than might otherwise be assumed. Taking my own pictures of Mars, I'm much more conscious of that than I was when I "merely" perused spacecraft imagery, which is often up-close and often avoids the clouds. It's not an overstatement to say that there are often/usually clouds in the following contexts: the sunrise limb, the sunset limb, the winter polar regions, above the five tallest volcanoes after sunrise or before sunset. I'd say that it's rare to see a picture of Mars without clouds in at least one of those locations. Here's a picture of mine taken in June 2016 with a 6" telescope that shows Arsia, Ascraeus, and Pavonis as clouds on the right limb. It's easier to see them this way than when they're cloudless. Olympus Mons, experiencing early afternoon, is visible cloudless to their upper left. |
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Sep 27 2018, 09:58 PM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1453 Joined: 26-July 08 Member No.: 4270 |
The most recent image of Arsia Mons, from 24 Sep.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_marswebcam/44207538984/ -------------------- -- Hungry4info (Sirius_Alpha)
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Sep 28 2018, 11:54 PM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2530 Joined: 20-April 05 Member No.: 321 |
Wow, that cloud is interesting. The total absence of anything similar near the other volcanoes is striking.
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Sep 29 2018, 06:11 AM
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#12
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8789 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Orographic 'trail clouds' from the Tharsis Montes are far from uncommon, but this one does seem to be remarkably persistent. Wonder if the excess suspended dust from the storm caused/is causing accretion of ice and/or solid CO2 around the particles? If so, there could be some surface deposition under the cloud as they get too heavy to remain suspended in the atmosphere.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Sep 29 2018, 04:25 PM
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#13
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Hmm... I know dust storms "puff up" Mars' atmosphere, making the average air column be deeper and thinner. I believe this is due to solar heating happening at the tops of the dust clouds more than at the surface.
I wonder if such a puffing up of the atmospheric column would make adiabatic cloud formation at higher altitudes more likely? It sort of appears so. -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Guest_Steve5304_* |
Oct 1 2018, 02:38 AM
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#14
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Guests |
I dunno...looks pretty convincing to me...some sort of outgassing. Anybody know the wind patterns in those regions? There is also a total absence of anything like it..anywhere else.
Going back to see older images. |
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Guest_Steve5304_* |
Oct 1 2018, 02:59 AM
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#15
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Guests |
Went back to 2009 it was visible also almost exactly identical cloud feature coming off the same locations of the caldera. Nothing peculiarly interesting about the terrain...but there is alot of "holes" and Caves"
Could not resolve anything in older soviet/viking images..or ist was not present.. Be very interesting to get some new Intel. It sure looks like venting of some sort. Nobody knows the state of martian volcanos. Some say they went cold 50 million years ago. Others say no..still active. |
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