Vaporizing Meteors are Making Clouds on Mars

The new find comes from recent observations from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft.

By Korey Haynes
Jun 17, 2019 4:00 PMFeb 22, 2020 1:20 AM
Clouds on Mars, Curiosity - NASA
These clouds snapped by the Curiosity rover on Mars are much lower and thicker than the meteor-generated clouds the study looked at. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Justin Cowart)

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No matter what planet you’re on, physics remains the same. For clouds, that means they follow a peculiar law – they form only around a seed of some sort, usually a fleck of dust or salt. On Earth, with its thick atmosphere and strong air currents, it’s possible to find these lightweight particles throughout the atmosphere, forming clouds at all different altitudes.

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