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Late Summer Storms Over the North Polar Region
MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-172, 10 August 1999 |
 Storm clouds have been brewing over the north polar cap of Mars since the last week of June 1999. During the month of July, summer was ending; autumn began at the start of August. The wide angle cameras of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) have been documenting the changing weather patterns of the red planet nearly every day since the Mapping Phase of the mission began in March 1999. These images are showing many more details about martian weather than had been previously recorded. Mars is a dynamic planet, with weather systems as complex and exciting as the Earth's. The four still-frame images (above) show the evolution of a storm system that developed over the martian north polar region on June 30, 1999. Each picture was taken approximately 2 hours later than the previous. The north polar ice cap is the white feature at the center of each frame. Clouds that appear white consist mainly of water ice, clouds that appear orange/brown contain dust. |
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