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A ‘mysterious plume of smoke’ forming near a dormant Martian volcano has been spreading across the surface of the Red Planet for over a month.
Space.com reports that for several weeks, a European orbiter circling Mars has been watching the long cloud.
The smoke has remained in place over a volcanic mountain called Arsia Mons near the Martian equator since September 13, according to a statement released by the European Space Agency.
They said there are apparently no volcanic processes producing the cloud as the volcano hasn’t been active in about 50 million years.
Scientists say the same spacecraft, which is named Mars Express, and its predecessors have spotted similar clouds on at least three previous occasions, and those structures formed around the same time in the Martian year.
And that’s not a coincidence, the ESA wrote.
They pointed out the cloud is full of water ice and has been created by air flow along the side of the volcano.
This means the feature is what scientists call an orographic or lee cloud.
That also happens to mean that the cloud changes over the course of the day as atmospheric patterns on Mars change.
Space.com added that scientists watching the cloud have noticed it grows over the course of the morning, stretching along the equator.
It may also be affected by the dust still in the atmosphere from the massive dust storm that engulfed Mars earlier this year.
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