Mars Express Unlocks Secrets of Recurring Elongated Cloud on Mars
Study reveals a morning cloud near Arsia Mons that can extend 1,800 km, fueled by extreme humidity and rapid temperature swings, with formation that defies standard physics.
- The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud is a water-ice orographic cloud that repeats every morning for several months and can stretch up to 1,800 km.
- It forms through homogeneous nucleation, requiring extreme relative humidity on Mars.
- Modelling the cloud required exotic physics, showing current understanding of Martian atmospheric processes is incomplete.
- The findings build on observations enabled by a 2018 Mars Express milestone for ESA's orbiter.
- ESA's long-duration orbital observation experience from Mars Express can support future cislunar and lunar mission planning.
What happened
The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC), a recurring water-ice plume near the volcano Arsia Mons, has been characterised using spacecraft data. Observations, including a 2018 milestone for ESA’s Mars Express orbiter, show the cloud repeats every morning for several months and can stretch up to 1,800 kilometres. Its formation requires conditions so extreme that current models invoke exotic physics.
What we know
The Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud is a water-ice orographic cloud that repeats every morning for several months and can stretch up to 1,800 km in length.
It forms through homogeneous nucleation, a process that requires relative humidity to reach extreme levels on Mars.
The volcanic peak Arsia Mons rises about 20 km and the local temperature can plummet 30 degrees in 10 minutes.
Modelling of the cloud's formation required exotic physics, indicating that current understanding of Martian atmospheric processes is incomplete.
The findings build on observations enabled by a Mars Express milestone achieved in 2018.
Why it matters
For the lunar industry, ESA's proven long-duration orbital observation skills from Mars Express demonstrate the agency's capability to support future cislunar and lunar surface missions with remote sensing and atmospheric studies. Understanding extreme environmental dynamics on other worlds, including rapid temperature shifts and exotic cloud physics, can refine mission planning for instruments and habitats on the Moon.
Sources
Written by AI systems from the sources above and checked automatically; no personal byline. How this site works