The Curiosity Rover continues to patrol the surface of Mars, taking surprising images. Its mission is to survey the site with a view to future human exploration. However, this does not prevent you from encountering curious postcards along the way. For example the dust devil on Mars, trapped on Mars.
Check it out on video
In these images sent to Earth, the slope of Mount Sharp in the center of Gale Crater is examined. Here you can see the passage of the dust devil on Mars. No need to worry (for now), this is not a real demon. This is the name of the weak sand vortex that is characteristic of Martian meteorology.
It does this during the imminent arrival of Mars summer in Gale Crater. As a result, strong surface warming affects the planet. And it causes an increase in wind activity. The winds rage on the hot surface. And then things like what the Curiosity rover is capturing happen.
The dust devil can be seen in the center of the picture at the border between the darkest and lightest slopes. It moves left to right in an animated GIF published by NASA.
Greater surface heating tends to create fast winds that lash through the low pressure cores. If these eddies are strong enough, they can kick up dust from the surface. And so they become visible as a vortex of dust. Fortunately, Curiosity can film with its cameras.
The animated GIF shows a film of the dust devil, which was recorded with the Navcam navigation camera. The Curiosity rover will continue its tireless exploration and prepare the ground for a future space mission. Perhaps in the future human eyes will look at the dust devils vividly and directly.
