时间:2025-04-03 14:57:03 来源:网络整理编辑:熱點
New ultraviolet images beamed from Mars by NASA's MAVEN spacecraft show huge swaths of clouds formin
New ultraviolet images beamed from Mars by NASA's MAVEN spacecraft show huge swaths of clouds forming above the red planet in incredible new detail. The imagery also reveals a never-before-observed glow on the planet's nightside.
These new discoveries are helping scientists understand the intricacies of how the planet's thin atmosphere functions.
SEE ALSO:Read 5 Haikus That Will Be Sent to Mars"MAVEN obtained hundreds of such images in recent months, giving some of the best high-resolution ultraviolet coverage of Mars ever obtained," Nick Schneider, MAVEN (short for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission) scientist, said in a statement.
The spacecraft spotted the clouds forming above four huge Martian volcanoes in images collected on July 9 and 10, and they appear to form in much the same way as clouds form above mountains on Earth, NASA said.
"Mars’ tallest volcano, Olympus Mons, appears as a prominent dark region near the top of the images, with a small white cloud at the summit that grows during the day. Olympus Mons appears dark because the volcano rises up above much of the hazy atmosphere which makes the rest of the planet appear lighter," NASA said in the statement.
"Three more volcanoes appear in a diagonal row, with their cloud cover merging to span up to a thousand miles by the end of the day," NASA added.
This isn't the first time scientists have seen clouds on Mars. The Pathfinder mission snapped photos of clouds in the Martian sky in the 1990s, and an image from the Hubble Space Telescope earlier this year also shows clouds high above the red planet.
The new MAVEN images do break new ground in revealing Martian "nightglow," which is a "common planetary phenomenon in which the sky faintly glows even in the complete absence of external light," NASA said. Earth, for example, has nightglow.
Mars' glow comes from nitric oxide seen in ultraviolet wavelengths of light. Light from the sun breaks down molecules of carbon dioxide and nitrogen and winds spread them over Mars, which gradually brings the atoms down to lower altitudes on the planet's night side, according to NASA.
Nitrogen and oxygen then slam into one another, creating the glowing nitric oxide molecules on the night side of the planet.
While researchers had predicted that nightglow would exist on Mars, these MAVEN images mark the first time it has been documented.
MAVEN launched to Mars in 2013, arriving at the red planet in 2014. During the past two years, the spacecraft has beamed back numerous images from orbit and helped further refine NASA's understanding of how the thin Martian atmosphere works today.
The spacecraft also provided data that helped reveal how much of Mars' atmosphere was stripped away by the solar wind billions of years ago.
You can now play 'Solitaire' and 'Tic2025-04-03 14:56
帶刀侍衛!藍軍後衛本賽季英超打進10球 占比超40%2025-04-03 14:42
王霜曬俏皮自拍:今天霜降冬天要來了 大家注意保暖2025-04-03 14:38
費萊尼替身助泰山重拾高舉高打 李霄鵬進攻戰術未奏效2025-04-03 14:19
Whyd voice2025-04-03 14:09
胡爾克女友懷孕 前妻疑似回應:謊言和不忠就像刀子2025-04-03 14:02
穆帥:球隊遭遇了曆史性的失敗 輸球責任全在我2025-04-03 13:58
曝廣州隊部分球員開始尋找後路 10月工資未到賬不排除退出2025-04-03 13:22
Despite IOC ban, Rio crowds get their political messages across2025-04-03 12:35
伊卡爾迪取關旺達直言已單身 變性人:他約過我2025-04-03 12:19
Wikipedia co2025-04-03 14:21
曼城前瞻 :麵對布萊頓誌在複仇 丁丁衝擊三連擊2025-04-03 14:19
韓喬生:武磊表現令主帥不滿 首發還不如踢替補2025-04-03 14:14
媒體人:武磊沒融入西班牙人任何進攻體係 過的並不好2025-04-03 14:09
Pole vaulter claims his penis is not to blame2025-04-03 14:07
陝西女足提前一輪奪女甲冠軍 鎖定下賽季女超聯賽資格2025-04-03 13:26
申花主帥 :有傷病人員需調整 全隊已做充分準備2025-04-03 13:05
海港戰大連或繼續單外援上陣 隊內:做好更困難準備2025-04-03 12:53
Ivanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice2025-04-03 12:36
23日賠率:切爾西曼城均取三分 米蘭客場獲小勝2025-04-03 12:24