The size of the global dust storm of Mars visualized in a new animation



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A new animation helps us visualize how mbadive Mars's dust storm is. This storm, which obscured the Sun and sank NASA's rover Opportunity in a deep sleep, was "only" as big as North America. In the weeks that followed this detail, NASA continued to inform the public about the size of this storm, using the countries as a reference. A new image, however, shows us exactly how much of the red planet is covered by this storm.

The above image is part of the animation created by the astronomer and astrophotographer Damian Peach who shared the GIF in a tweet:

March s & n Faint under the dust cover! This animation created from my image of June 28 and the reference MGS map of the same longitude really shows what has happened on Mars in recent weeks! Thanks to @Tom_Ruen for the map link. pic.twitter.com/ETVIhjYcB5

– Damian Peach (@peachastro) July 2, 2018

The dust storm has now reached global proportions, obscuring the surface of the planet under a misty blanket of red dust. According to the latest news from NASA in recent weeks, the storm began in late May, eventually covering the entire red planet by the third week of June. The storm continues and we do not know when it will end

READ: The life of the rover in limbo

It is possible that local dust storms are formed after the end of the global storm, prolonging the Mars landscape. become visible again. NASA continues to exploit its Curiosity rover on the planet, a source of energy different from that of Opportunity, an older rover unable to recharge due to lack of light.

Last month, NASA revealed that an effort to maintain the minimal amount of energy required to keep the robot in working order. The device's mission clock will wake up the mobile on the occasion to get a power level update, and then the mobile will go to sleep until recharging is possible.

SOURCE: Space.com

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