APOD
Astronomy Picture of the Day
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Clouds Over Tharsis on Mars
Explanation: When and where do clouds form on Mars ? The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft currently orbiting Mars is finding out. Photographs released last week showed clouds forming above Tharsis , a huge bulge on Mars about 4000 kilometers across and 7 kilometers high containing several large volcanoes . These clouds temporarily disappeared as a large dust storm emerged from the South , the first developing dust storm to be tracked by an orbiting spacecraft. Mars Global Surveyor continues to aerobrake during on its ongoing mission to survey the planet Mars.
| Date | March 17, 1998 |
|---|---|
| Credit | Credit: MOC Team, MGS, NASA |
| Authors & editors: | Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) |
| A service of: |
ASD at NASA / GSFC, NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U. |