dust storm on MarsThe Red Planet, as it made its closest approach to Earth, kicked up a storm of new finding in the astronomers’ observatory. One day before its closest approach to Earth, with the swelling excitement of observing it, the astronomers have added on to the already curious minds. It was clearly visible from the high resolution image of Mars that near the middle of the planet is a large dust storm that has been growing and evolving in the planet’s equatorial region over the last few weeks. All credits to the Hubble Space Telescope.



Many amateur telescopes can also witness this dramatic activity on the planet’s surface. The regional dust storm is about the size of the states of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico combined. This dust storm measures about 1,500 km (930 miles) across. Some of the smallest craters visible in this image are approximately 20 km (12 miles) across. The large regional dust storm appears as the brighter, redder cloudy region in the middle of the planet’s disk.



Via: Universe Today