Mystery cloud-like blobs over Mars baffle astronomers.

[zorgon]

Twilight on a Cloudy Day - Pathfinder

This true color image was taken in the twilight by the rover Pathfinder on Mars in August 1997. The clouds are of the same type as those discovered by SPICAM at a much higher altitude. The sky on Mars is BLUE

[ArMaP]

Like this NASA picture of Mars in a dust storm   dark, dusty but still blue

The problem with that photo is that it was made with images from filters L2, L5 and L7, the filters that make the colour target look like this


instead of this


PS: both images are from the same sol as the photo you posted.

[Pimander]

What's the colour of the Earth's atmosphere at high altitudes?

View of the earth as seen from the SR-71 Blackbird at approximately 73,000 feet (22,000 m)


The view from 70,000 feet out the window of a U-2 is quite spectacular

The sky gets...... more blue.

It admittedly gets blacker very high but that is because there is almost no atmosphere for the light to hit but the blue does get more intense.

No need for that, some dust in the air creates that effect, I saw that some years ago here in Portugal when the end of a Moroccan dust storm moved more to the north than usual.

Yes I agree but some of the early pictures released by NASA had too much red.  In my opinion NASA tried to make images to fit with what the public expected.  The same thing happened with the early Apollo missions.

Have you categorically agreed or disagreed with us on this yet ArMaP? 

[ArMaP]

The sky gets...... more blue.

It admittedly gets blacker very high but that is because there is almost no atmosphere for the light to hit but the blue does get more intense.

I think I have read somewhere that some people say it should look whiter, but looking at the photos you posted it looks it should look closer to black than to white.

Yes I agree but some of the early pictures released by NASA had too much red.  In my opinion NASA tried to make images to fit with what the public expected.  The same thing happened with the early Apollo missions.

Have you categorically agreed or disagreed with us on this yet ArMaP? 

No, I haven't, as I haven't looked much at the older photos.

[Pimander]

I think I have read somewhere that some people say it should look whiter, but looking at the photos you posted it looks it should look closer to black than to white.

I'd suggest that with extremely thin atmosphere that you would expect the atmosphere to be whiter as the light would not be effected much.  Even thinner than that and it would look black as the light would hit so few atoms there would be nothing to scatter the light.

However, those pictures I posted above suggest blue which gets darker as you get closer to space which seems to confirm my theory about the Martian atmosphere should be more blue than on Earth (at least in the absence of clouds or dust).

[zorgon]

This is curious... wonder if it's related?

Mushroom Cloud on Mars Spotted by India's Orbiter
March 8, 2015 Paul Seaburn
http://www.thelivingmoon.com/forum/index.php?topic=8025.msg110925;topicseen#new

[ArMaP]

This is curious... wonder if it's related?

It's related, it's in the same planet. 

[zorgon]

Mystery cloud-like blobs over Mars baffle astronomers

In 2012, amateur astronomers spotted at least one unidentified object rising into the Martian sky. Could auroras, volcanoes or aliens be to blame?


Action replay (Image: W. Jaeschke)



(Image: Grupo Ciencias Planetarias (GCP) - UPV/EHU)

[zorgon]

I'd suggest that with extremely thin atmosphere that you would expect the atmosphere to be whiter as the light would not be effected much.

However, those pictures I posted above suggest blue which gets darker as you get closer to space which seems to confirm my theory about the Martian atmosphere should be more blue than on Earth (at least in the absence of clouds or dust).

Well the color blue is caused by Rayleigh scattering so the sky would also be blue on Mars for the same reason.  I wrote several scientists about that years ago  One said it would be black like it was on the Moon because Mars had no atmosphere (I kid you not... this was on a kids Astronomy ask questions site)

Here in Nevada in the high desert (Bryce Canyon top where you enter is at 9000 ft and Grand Canyon South rim is at 6,400 to 7.500 feet) we get really deep blue skies when there are no clouds. This is the best picture I have that illustrates what we see...This was taken at about 4000 feet. Bare in mind this is looking UP



In contrast when its cloudy you get more white  This is from Bryce Canyon Rim at 9000 feet. Bare in mind this is looking down and through a long distance

Even thinner than that and it would look black as the light would hit so few atoms there would be nothing to scatter the light.

That would then mean that the atmosphere on Mars is thicker... both for the blue version we calim and the dust storm red version  Both require a substantial atmosphere

[zorgon]

Had to move this one... as it is from 1999


Never short of surprises (Image: NASA/JPL/MSSS)

PIA02653: Mars Daily Global Image from April 1999

Original Caption Released with Image:
Twelve orbits a day provide the Mars Global Surveyor MOC wide angle cameras a global "snapshot" of weather patterns across the planet. Here, bluish-white water ice clouds hang above the Tharsis volcanoes. This computer generated image was created by wrapping the global map found at PIA02066 onto a sphere. The center of this newly [sic] projected sphere is located at 15degrees North, 90 degrees West. This perspective rotates the south pole (which has no data coverage in the original map) away from our field of view.

Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/MSSS

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02653

[zorgon]

Cyclone Captured by Viking 1 Orbiter



Courtesy © 1998 by Calvin J. Hamilton
Image taken by the Viking spacecraft. Along the edge of the Martian polar cap, cyclonic disturbances are common during the late summer and fall. This storm system is located at the edge of the northern polar cap. In the foreground, frost can be seen as bright areas.

This Viking 1 Orbiter image was acquired in June 1978 early in the northern hemisphere's summer. The image is of a region near the north polar cap, approximately 80º North, 160º West. This image was taken by the Viking 1 Orbiter when it was about 10,000 kilometers distant. As shown here, North is towards the left and East is up with the East-West dimension being approximately 500 kilometers long. What makes this image unique is the presence of the spiral, cyclonic cloud structure. In all their years of operation, the two Viking orbiters only observed four such storms. The exact nature of how such storms originate is a subject of debate.

[zorgon]

More Clouds on Mars
Lee Wave Cloud



Courtesy © 1998 by Calvin J. Hamilton
Image taken by the Viking spacecraft. This is a good example of a lee wave associated with an impact crater. Note the wave periodicity in the clouds.

Lee Wave Cloud
Crater with Wavy Fog
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-424, 17 July 2003



Courtesy NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Craters near the edge of the retreating south polar seasonal frost cap often have fog in them, this time of year. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle red image was acquired just a few days ago on July 13, 2003. It shows a crater, 36 km (22 mi) across, that is enveloped in fog. This picture was taken as a context frame for a high resolution view that was intended to show dunes on the floor of the crater. That high resolution view was frustrated by thick fog that hid the dunes from view. This wide angle context frame shows that winds from the lower right (southeast) were blowing over the crater, causing the fog to bunch up in a wavy, rippled pattern. Winds streaming off the polar cap toward the north create a variety of patterns in the fogs formed by water ice or vapor as the seasonal cap retreats during southern spring. This picture is located at 66.4°S, 208.6°W, sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left (northwest).

Image Source: Malin Space Systems 2003/07/17 R07-00964

[zorgon]

Wave Clouds



Courtesy © 1998 by Calvin J. Hamilton
Image taken by the Viking spacecraft. Wave clouds usually occur at the lee of a large obstacle. They are often found at the edge of the polar cap, and in the Tharsis and Lunae Planum regions of Mars.

[zorgon]

Dust Storms on Mars



Courtesy © 1998 by Calvin J. Hamilton
Image taken by the Viking spacecraft. This is an example of a dust plume in the Solis Planum region. This image was taken during the springtime for this region. Plumes are found primarily in the southern hemisphere, in highlands such as Syrtis Major and in elevated regions such as Tharsis. (Click image for larger view)

Planet Gobbling Dust Storms on Mars


Image credit: NASA/JPL
July 16, 2001
Mariner 9 arrived at Mars in 1971 -- the first spacecraft to orbit the Red Planet. Scientists were anxious to study the crisp new pictures it was expected to send back. Much of Mars had never been seen in any detail, and Mariner 9 would lift the veil at last.

Their feelings must have been mixed indeed when the first images arrived at mission control and revealed .... a world-wide haze. The surface of the entire planet was hidden by the biggest dust storm anyone had ever seen! Only Olympus Mons, a giant volcano 24 kilometers high, peeked above the clouds.

After a month the dust settled and Mariner 9 mapped the Red Planet with great success. Scientists have since learned that huge dust storms, dwarfing desert dust clouds on Earth, are fairly common on Mars. The Mariner 9 event still holds the record as the thickest and longest-lasting we have observed -- but perhaps not for long.


Image credit: Viking NASA/JPL
Mars dust storm viewed from orbit, note craters with snowy rims.

[Pimander]

If there is volcaic activity and ice then there is likely liquid water.  If there was even microbial life in the past then I'd suggest there is extremophile type life still present on Mars.

I don't have proof but there is circumstantial evidence like Methane.

Based on photochemical models and on the current understanding of the composition of the Martian atmosphere, methane has a chemical lifetime of about 300-600 years, which is very short on geological time scales. This implies that the methane that is observed today cannot have been produced 4.5 billion years ago, when the planets formed. So what can explain the presence of this gas on the Red Planet?

One possibility is a biological origin.  The discovery of microbial life 2 to 3 kilometres beneath the surface of the Witwatersrand basin in South Africa led scientists to consider that similar organisms could live, or have lived in the past, below the permafrost layer on Mars. By analogy with Earth, the biological origin of Martian methane could be explained by the existence of micro-organisms, called methanogenes, existing deep under the surface, and producing methane as a result of their metabolism.

http://exploration.esa.int/mars/46038-methane-on-mars/