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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - A Monster Dust Devil Stalks the Martian Landscape

Posted on Thursday, April 5, 2012
Uploaded by Waspie_Dwarf
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter - A Monster Dust Devil Stalks the Martian Landscape
Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Uploader comment: A dust devil the size of a terrestrial tornado towers above the Martian surface in this late springtime afternoon image of Amazonis Planitia. Also captured by the Context Camera on MRO, the length of the shadow indicates that the dust plume reached a height of 20 kilometers (12 miles) above the surface! Despite its gargantuan height, the plume is only 70 meters (70 yards) in diameter, giving it a snake-like appearance that is twisted by high altitude winds, similar to another dust devil spotted recently in this region.


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