New Delhi, India

NASA's 'six-wheeled geologist,' the Perseverance rover has captured a Martian dust devil on camera.

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The video was captured on August 30, 2023, day 899th Martian day or sol of the mission.

What is a dust devil?

A dust devil is a dust tornado, similar to the tornadoes we see on Earth. Generally, Martian tornadoes are smaller than the one we see on our planet.

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However, the one recently captured by NASA, as per calculations based on the tornado's shadow, was about two kilometres (1.2 miles) in height — much taller than the average tornado the US experiences every year, and about five times the height of the US Empire State Building.

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Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colorado, said: "We don't see the top of the dust devil, but the shadow it throws gives us a good indication of its height"

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Lemmon, who is a member of the Perseverance science team, said, "Most are vertical columns. If this dust devil were configured that way, its shadow would indicate it is about 1.2 miles (2 kilometres) in height.”

The rover spotted the dust devil on a location nicknamed "Thorofare Ridge." It was about four kilometres or 2.5 miles away from the Perseverance Rover and was moving at a speed of about 19 kilometres per hour or 12mph.

As per estimates, its width was about 200 feet (or 60 metres).

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NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) has shared a video of the dust devil. Composed of 21 frames, the video has been sped up 20 times to showcase the tornado.

Watch the video here:

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What does a dust devil do?

Dust devils, as per NASA, are one of the mechanisms "that move and redistribute dust around Mars."

These help scientists understand the Martian atmosphere better and improve weather models.

The Perseverance rover is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon.

(With inputs from agencies)

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