Barreling, sideways tornadoes.Many craters on worlds contain streaked, scarring pattern headed radially outward from a crater, but the ones on Mars are different.For the craters’ sizes and the energy that created them, the streaks — only visible in the infrared — extend out much too far.This isn’t normal ejecta, but an additional phenomenon, which is where the barreling tornadoes idea fits in.High-velocity impacts can cause high-speed vortices to form and travel just over the surface.Martian orbiters have already seen normal tornadoes form on the red planet’s surface.These impacts formed vapor plumes, which travel at supersonic speeds.Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. by Kelsey Kennedy May 12, 2017.
Also, you’re going to want to hear the latest news on the Red Planet: A new study shows that On the off chance that you, future Mars resident, have been out of the space loop, According to Brown University geologist and the study’s lead author Peter Schultz, the large Martian crater rays that dot the planet’s surface at are attributed to these unique tornadoes. When we look at ancient impact craters on Mars, one bizarre feature stands out: enormous, outward-going streaks.These aren’t visible during the day, but appear at night in the infrared, as bright streaks hold onto excessive heat.To retain heat, the streaks must be made of bare, blocky structures that somehow had all the sand and dust stripped from them.“That tells us that something came along and scoured those surfaces bare,” says Peter Schultz, What could be that thing that came along? If you’re an Earthling who plans on acquiring a Martian citizenship in the sorta kinda near future, bon voyage! NASA scientists give their reasons.
Tornadoes are bigger and more powerful on Mars than they are on Earth; this one imaged by the Spirit Rover in 2005 is three separate images taken 2 seconds apart apiece.
These Bright Streaks Are Evidence of Massive Tornadoes on Mars Everything’s bigger on the red planet. If you’re an Earthling who plans on acquiring a Martian citizenship in the sorta kinda near future, bon voyage! This new info about tornadoes on Mars is *so* fascinating. Music is "Stormfront" by Kevin MacLeod. Schultz collaborated with graduate student Stephanie Quintana to determine the origin of the streaks.“Where these vortices encounter the surface, they sweep away the small particles that sit loose on the surface, exposing the bigger blocky material underneath, and that’s what gives us these streaks,” Schultz said.Aside from being completely mind-blowing, the streaks left behind by these Martian tornadoes could help researchers understand more about the planet, including rates of erosion or whether ice was present when an impact occurred.
2 Replies to “Asteroid Strikes on Mars Spun Out Supersonic Tornadoes that Scoured the Surface” btraymd says: May 13, 2017 at 11:10 AM .
Dust devils on Mars can grow to the size of terrestrial tornadoes, with a funnel more than 330 feet (100 meters) wide stretching up to 12 miles (19km) above the surface. En Route to Mars, the Moon -- (Science@NASA) Why colonize the Moon before going to Mars? We’re so addicted to all of this new info about Mars, and we’re not sorry about it. Approaching Mars -- (Science@NASA) Earth and Mars are converging, quickly, for a close encounter in October 2005. This incredible image, which happened to be NASA's Astronomy Photo of the Day earlier this week, shows a huge dust devil raging across Mars’s flat, dry Amazonis Planitia. NASA Has Spotted a Giant Dust Tornado on Mars . Movies of Martian dust devils taken on April 15 and 18, 2005, by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. FIONA MACDONALD. The winds on Mars are strong, but the atmosphere is so thin that that you can stand in front of a tornado and not be blown over.