Scientists unravel mystery of 1,100-mile-long cloud forming above Martian volcanoes
It's similar to how these clouds form on Earth only on a massive scale.
The cloud is about 1,118 miles (1,800 kilometers) long and 93 miles (150 km) across. Credit: ESA.
Every year around Mars’ southern solstice, a strange elongated ice cloud forms over the red planet’s surface. The exact nature of this peculiar meteorological phenomenon has been elusive — until recently.
Scientists affiliated with the European Space Agency (ESA) just released a stunning photo of the giant 1,100-mile-long (1,800 km) cloud captured by the Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) on the Mars Express spacecraft. In doing so, they’ve also figured out how it forms.