[ad_1]
<div _ngcontent-c14 = "" innerhtml = "
Clouds on Arsia Mons on October 16th.European Space Agency
Some corners of YouTube, Twitter and the rest of the Internet are warming following recent images returned by Mars orbiters that seem to show a cloud plume emanating from Arsia Mons, a large volcano at the surface of the red planet.
But the scientific community would like you to know that these clouds are much more icy than smoked and that there is certainly no volcanic eruption on our neighboring planet at this time.
"These are ice-rich clouds on the summit of Arsia Mons, "NASA said of an image captured by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft from 2001 last month.
Some images taken last week by the Mars Express orbiter of the European Space Agency (above) really look like a plume of smoke, much like what we saw when satellites orbiting around Earth directed their cameras to Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii earlier this year.
But the reality is that it has been at least 10 million years since the formidable Arsia Mons broke out. It must also have been a pretty remarkable eruption, because the volcano has an incredible width of 270 miles and a height of 12 miles. Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, is only 6 km high and 75 km wide.
It turns out that the Martian clouds in question are mere clouds of water ice that condense on the volcano, and this is a phenomenon already observed at Arsia Mons, as in this more detailed image of 2015:
Clouds at Arsia Mons on Mars in 2015.ISRO / ISSDC / Justin Cowart
The trend has also been documented in peer-reviewed journals at earlier dates.
"The presence of persistent cloudiness in this region, even during the relatively warm, cloudless season … may indicate unique local circulation processes, "reads a 2005 article. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
The lead author of this 2005 article, Eldar Noe Dobrea, researcher at the Planetary Science Institute, recently interviewed his colleagues. They all agreed that the clouds observed at Arsia Mons are not the product of a volcanic eruption, according to Skyweek.
No active volcano has been found on Mars, but that does not mean we can rule out the possibility of an eruption in the future. If an eruption occurred now or very soon, changes in the atmospheric chemistry of the planet would show it. Until now, nothing so spectacular has been observed.
">
Clouds on Arsia Mons on October 16th.European Space Agency
Some corners of YouTube, Twitter and the rest of the Internet are warming following recent images returned by Mars orbiters that seem to show a cloud plume emanating from Arsia Mons, a large volcano at the surface of the red planet.
But the scientific community would like you to know that these clouds are much more icy than smoked and that there is certainly no volcanic eruption on our neighboring planet at this time.
"These are ice-rich clouds on the summit of Arsia Mons, "NASA said of an image captured by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft from 2001 last month.
Some images taken last week by the Mars Express orbiter of the European Space Agency (above) really look like a plume of smoke, much like what we saw when satellites orbiting around Earth directed their cameras to Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii earlier this year.
But the reality is that it has been at least 10 million years since the formidable Arsia Mons broke out. It must also have been a pretty remarkable eruption, because the volcano has an incredible width of 270 miles and a height of 12 miles. Mauna Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, is only 6 km high and 75 km wide.
It turns out that the Martian clouds in question are mere clouds of water ice that condense on the volcano, and this is a phenomenon already observed at Arsia Mons, as in this more detailed image of 2015:
Clouds at Arsia Mons on Mars in 2015.ISRO / ISSDC / Justin Cowart
The trend has also been documented in peer-reviewed journals at earlier dates.
"The presence of persistent cloudiness in this region, even during the relatively warm, cloudless season … may indicate unique local circulation processes, "reads a 2005 article. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.
The lead author of this 2005 article, Eldar Noe Dobrea, researcher at the Planetary Science Institute, recently interviewed his colleagues. They all agreed that the clouds observed at Arsia Mons are not the product of a volcanic eruption, according to Skyweek.
No active volcano has been found on Mars, but that does not mean we can rule out the possibility of an eruption in the future. If an eruption occurred now or very soon, changes in the atmospheric chemistry of the planet would show it. Until now, nothing so spectacular has been observed.
