Back in 2018, many small dust storms came together to form one massive storm, swirling squall that took over the entire planet, hiding the Martian surface from the view of orbiters. Now, scientists suggest that the mega-storm canceled an entire season, bringing the southern winter to an early end.
This is the same dust storm that caused NASA’s solar-powered Opportunity rover to run into several power issues, eventually running out of power and stopping.
A blanket of dust
“This was a perfect opportunity to investigate how global dust storms impact the atmosphere at the Martian poles, which are surrounded by powerful jets of wind in winter,” explained Paul Streeter of the UK’s Open University.
Streeter and his colleagues from the university, NASA, and the Russian Academy of Sciences observed the data collected from Mars orbiters and a climate model of Mars to determine the impacts of the storm on the planet’s atmosphere. They found the storm had several different impacts on the southern and northern halves of the planet.
The storm moved more dust in the direction of the southern pole, destroying a vortex of cold air, bringing spring early to the hemisphere. It seems like a blanket of dust that appeared to cover the planet actually had the same warming quality as a real blanket.
More observation for future storms
The storm impacted less to the northern hemisphere, where seasons progressed nearly as expected. Streeter showed the findings at the virtual National Astronomy Meeting of the UK Royal Astronomical Society. He says the dust storm on Mars like the one that occurred in 2018 will continues to be events worth observing closely.
“It has implications for how dust is deposited at the north and south poles and our understanding of the planet’s climate history.”
Besides, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover is getting ready to collect rock samples. These samples will be the first-ever Martian material delivered to Earth. The rover landed on the planet back in April and has been spending its time testing its systems and assisting its chopper buddy Ingenuity by relaying flight instructions.
