Hexagonal Prisms Form in Water-Ice Clouds on Mars, Producing Halo Displays Seen by Perseverance Rover
Observations by several cameras on the Perseverance rover showed a 22° scattering halo around the Sun over several hours during northern midsummer (solar longitude 142°). Such a halo has not previously been seen beyond Earth. The halo occurred during the aphelion cloud belt season and the cloudiest...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2022 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial (INTA) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.INTA Repositorio Digital del Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.inta.es:20.500.12666/843 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2022GL099776 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12666/843 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Mars Perseverance rover |
| Sumario: | Observations by several cameras on the Perseverance rover showed a 22° scattering halo around the Sun over several hours during northern midsummer (solar longitude 142°). Such a halo has not previously been seen beyond Earth. The halo occurred during the aphelion cloud belt season and the cloudiest time yet observed from the Perseverance site. The halo required crystalline water-ice cloud particles in the form of hexagonal columns large enough for refraction to be significant, at least 11 μm in diameter and length. From a possible 40–50 km altitude, and over the 3.3 hr duration of the halo, particles could have fallen 3–12 km, causing downward transport of water and dust. Halo-forming clouds are likely rare due to the high supersaturation of water that is required but may be more common in northern subtropical regions during northern midsummer. |
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