NEWSNOTES
Martian Dust-Storm Activity
Dusty
June 15
Clear
PHILIP CHRISTENSEN (ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY) / NASA
June 30
July 16
In early July backyard Mars observers watched as the atmosphere of the red planet became choked with obscuring dust. The Thermal Emission
Spectrometer aboard NASAs Mars Global Surveyor made daily maps of the spreading cloud. A series of these images centered on longitude
270 (Syrtis Major and the Hellas basin) is seen here. Red indicates dusty conditions.
Dust Storm Clouds Out Mars
This years Martian opposition the
time when Mars is opposite the Sun in
our sky was supposed to be a reason
for celebration. A week afterward, on
June 21st, Earth came within 43 million
miles of the red planet, our closest meet-
ing since 1988. The opportune position-
ing promised unusually detailed views of
Martian topography. But little did any-
one know that a storm was a-brewin.
Beginning on June 15th, a small dust
cloud appeared in the Hellas impact basin
in the southern hemisphere. For two
weeks the storm grew and shrank before
bursting out and sweeping across the plan-
et. By July 4th Mars was encased in a dust
storm of global proportions. Features that
were clear and crisp one week were cov-
ered in haze the next. Veteran planetary
photographer Donald Parker called the
storm absolutely the best Ive ever seen.
The storm caught Mars observers by
surprise because it came so early, nearly
four months before the planets perihe-
lion (closest approach to the Sun). Nor-
mally the dust-storm season comes just
22 November 2001 Sky & Telescope
June 18 June 21
July 2 July 7
July 19 July 22
after perihelion each Martian year.
Despite the hampered viewing, the
storm has kept planetary scientists busy.
Using the Thermal Emission Spectrome-
ter (TES) aboard the Mars Global Sur-
veyor (MGS) orbiting the planet, they
found that when the dust was at its
thickest, the global atmospheric tempera-
ture jumped some 30 to 40C. This rad-
ical heating was both a cause and an ef-
fect of the dusty weather. The first mild
dust storms left residual haze in the at-
mosphere that trapped incoming sun-
light and warmed the atmospheres
upper layers. Meanwhile, the air near the
Martian surface remained cold. The tem-
perature difference generated winds be-
tween the hot and cold layers. The wind
kicked up more dust, which helped trap
more heat. Throughout late June and
early July, the cycle snowballed until the
planet became a fuzzy, featureless blob.
According to Philip Christensen (Ari-
zona State University), principal investi-
gator for TES, the storm is the most se-
vere in more than two decades. And
2001 Sky Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.
June 24 June 27
July 10 July 13
July 24 July 27
there is little hope for the air to clear
soon. There are no signs of cooling,
commented Christensen in August.
Fortunately, Mars wont stay dusty for-
ever. In time the ground will warm, the
temperature difference between the dust
and the ground will diminish, the winds
will slow, and the dust will settle. But
when this will happen remains unclear.
Even when Mars does cool, it will do so
unevenly, says Christensen. Residual small
storms may linger for months. After the
last massive dust storm in the mid-1970s,
the planet remained hazy and the visibili-
ty of surface features was impaired for a
long while. We may be in another five-
year phase of dustiness, he notes.
For now, Christensen and colleagues
are using MGS to try to find the exact
threshold temperatures required to kick
up a major storm. Small Martian dust
storms are common, but large ones are
not. What starts a runaway global event
remains unclear. I think we got really
lucky to have MGS there to capture this
storm, says Christensen. D. T.