A seasonal map of the cloudy parts of Mars
Click for original image.
Though Mars’ very thin atmosphere (1/thousandth that of Earth) is generally clear, it does have clouds that come and go. A project begun in 2022 using citizen scientists to identify these clouds and the seasons they appear the most, dubbed Cloudspotting on Mars, has now published its first paper, available here.
The graph to the left, Figure 9 in the paper, shows two seasonal Mars maps, one indicating the daytime seasonal frequency of clouds and the other their nightime frequency. From the paper:
The seasonal evolution of all clouds as a function of latitude for both daytime and nighttime are shown in Fig. 9. During the clear season until [mid-summer in the northern hemisphere] … there are several regions where clouds occur frequently: in the equatorial region (annotated as 1), at mid-latitudes (2), in the southern polar region (3), and to a lesser extent in the northern polar region [at the start of summer]. From [late fall to mid-autumn in the north], daytime clouds occur primarily at mid-latitudes, but are observed at nearly all latitudes between 70°S and 60°N (4). At night, there is one broad population from 30°S to 30°N (clouds are more frequent in the equatorial region at night), but [in autumn], clouds occur frequently between 30°N and 50°N as well. [In mid-spring] the number of observed nighttime clouds increases in the southern hemisphere, especially near 50°S. There is a strong decrease in the number of peaks just before [the late northern autumn and the late southern sping] at nearly all latitudes except around 50°S and 20°N at night. [Once northern winter arrives], clouds are observed between about 60°S and 60°N as well as both polar regions, although nighttime clouds between 0°N and 30°N occur relatively less frequently.
The low-latitude clouds during the clear season (1), which are observed more frequently at night, occur at high altitudes, 65–80 km during the day and 55–70 km at night; this is the aphelion equatorial mesospheric cloud population studied in depth by Slipski et al. (2022) and in which previous observations have spectrally confirmed CO2-ice.
The bracketed words indicating seasons above replace the longitudal numbers the scientists use to indicate the seasons, and are used on these two graphs. The figure to the right shows what the longitude numbers represent in the graphs’ X-axis.
The project continues if any of my readers want to join in.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Click for original image.
Though Mars’ very thin atmosphere (1/thousandth that of Earth) is generally clear, it does have clouds that come and go. A project begun in 2022 using citizen scientists to identify these clouds and the seasons they appear the most, dubbed Cloudspotting on Mars, has now published its first paper, available here.
The graph to the left, Figure 9 in the paper, shows two seasonal Mars maps, one indicating the daytime seasonal frequency of clouds and the other their nightime frequency. From the paper:
The seasonal evolution of all clouds as a function of latitude for both daytime and nighttime are shown in Fig. 9. During the clear season until [mid-summer in the northern hemisphere] … there are several regions where clouds occur frequently: in the equatorial region (annotated as 1), at mid-latitudes (2), in the southern polar region (3), and to a lesser extent in the northern polar region [at the start of summer]. From [late fall to mid-autumn in the north], daytime clouds occur primarily at mid-latitudes, but are observed at nearly all latitudes between 70°S and 60°N (4). At night, there is one broad population from 30°S to 30°N (clouds are more frequent in the equatorial region at night), but [in autumn], clouds occur frequently between 30°N and 50°N as well. [In mid-spring] the number of observed nighttime clouds increases in the southern hemisphere, especially near 50°S. There is a strong decrease in the number of peaks just before [the late northern autumn and the late southern sping] at nearly all latitudes except around 50°S and 20°N at night. [Once northern winter arrives], clouds are observed between about 60°S and 60°N as well as both polar regions, although nighttime clouds between 0°N and 30°N occur relatively less frequently.
The low-latitude clouds during the clear season (1), which are observed more frequently at night, occur at high altitudes, 65–80 km during the day and 55–70 km at night; this is the aphelion equatorial mesospheric cloud population studied in depth by Slipski et al. (2022) and in which previous observations have spectrally confirmed CO2-ice.
The bracketed words indicating seasons above replace the longitudal numbers the scientists use to indicate the seasons, and are used on these two graphs. The figure to the right shows what the longitude numbers represent in the graphs’ X-axis.
The project continues if any of my readers want to join in.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Readers: the rules for commenting!
No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.
However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.
Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.