Scientists found Cloud spot that appears near Mars atmosphere around 19-kilometer way from the planet. Almost on the equator of Mars, over the 19-kilometer-high Arsia Mons volcano, a gigantic cloud has appeared in recent days. It has stretched approximately 1,800 kilometers in length , in fact it is so large that it can be seen with telescopes from Earth. The funny thing is not this, but it appears periodically every Martian year, and astronomers are not very clear why.
This long, thin cloud was seen on July 17 and 19 by Mars Express, a satellite that has been orbiting the Red Planet for 16 years. The European Space Agency has released the cloud images captured by the Mars Express.
Punctual as a clock and of unknown origin
This curious cloud has its own name, it is known as AMEC by its acronym of elongated cloud of Arsia Mons in English. And it is that she has even been given her own name because she is an “old acquaintance” of the astronomers who study Mars. The cloud has been sighted on previous occasions as well and was expected to appear during these last days.
It was previously photographed by Mars Express in 2015, 2012 and 2009. Why this three-year period? In reality they are not three years as such, but a calendar year from Mars, which corresponds to 687 days on Earth. This annual Martian cycle marks the appearance of AMEC on a periodic basis.
Its cycle is daily, it is formed and destroyed every Martian day for a period of approximately 80 days. They indicate from ESA that during the morning it forms for approximately three hours and then suddenly disappears.
At first it was speculated that the origin of this cloud was the eruption of the Arsia Mons volcano, however NASA explains that this volcano has not sustained volcanic activity for about 50 million years. So what shape? It is known to be composed of water in the form of ice but little else.
Despite the fact that there are various probes around Mars atmosphere, Mars Express has the advantage to observe this cloud since it orbits that area in the Martian morning while the others do so in the Martian afternoon, hence the cloud can be better observed. The team that coordinates Mars Express now seeks to better study how it forms, why it does so periodically, and how it forms only early in the morning.
On the neighboring planet we still have a lot to explore to get to know it well. Currently two ships are on their way to Mars ( the one from the United Arab Emirates and the one from China ). The one in the United States will launch in a matter of hours .
