Martian-Fog Study Finds Thick Haze-"Diamond Dust": adds to evidence of Red planet's water cycle!

Nights on Mars are shrouded in icy fog that turns to scattered precipitation, according to a new study of weather near the red planet's north pole.

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The sun rises on Mars in an August 2008 picture taken by NASA's Phoenix lander.

The finding marks the first time that fog has been directly observed on the neighboring world, adding to evidence that modern Mars experiences a type of ongoing water cycle akin to Earth's.

Scientists probed the Martian fog using NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The craft touched down on Mars in May 2008—during the planet's late northern summer—and collected data for about five months before succumbing to frigid winter conditions.

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Pictures from Phoenix revealed, for example, that there's water ice in the shallow Martian soil, but scientists aren't yet sure whether that ice is a relic of ancient times or is formed by ongoing processes. During four nights near the middle of the Phoenix mission, scientists aimed a green laser beam affixed to the lander into the Martian skies and used a pair of cameras to record the result.

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This view from the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows the first impression -- dubbed Yeti and shaped like a wide footprint -- made on the Martian soil by the robotic arm scoop on the sixth Martian day of the mission.

The new analysis of this data shows that Martian fog contains about 1.7 milligrams of water ice per cubic meter. Most of the fog is made of particles a little smaller than a thousandth of an inch wide, with an occasional larger particle settling out and falling toward the surface. "If you went outside on a dusty or foggy night with a laser pointer and pointed it straight up, you'd see what we saw on Mars," said study co-author Mark Lemmon, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University. "You'd see the green beam and points of light every once in a while as a particle drifted through that beam."

Mars Showers Are Like Arctic "Diamond Dust"

From a seat next to the Phoenix lander, an observer during those four nights would have enjoyed a spectacular sunset as the late-summer day drew to a close. But soon after the bluish colors faded from the horizon, the observer would see the skies just a few meters overhead begin to choke with icy fog.

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Some of the water vapor reenters the atmosphere, but some likely penetrates the soil and becomes part of the subsurface ground ice, the scientists surmise. Either way would suggest some dynamic hydrological processes still at work on Mars.

"Because we have the fog," Moores said, "that means that there is a reservoir of water [in the atmosphere] to interact with subsurface water on a daily basis."

Source: news.nationalgeographic.com...

Well (no pun intended...). This is certainly interesting and Good news. For either side of the argument of if Mars was inhabitibed by humans (or the alike) previously.

Now that we know water is still present, does this change NASA and the others plans on getting to Mars and substaining life there?

Man, all of this will probably be detemined long after I am dead. Dam it. That is one of the main reasons I want us to go to the moon and REALLY look around. I mean hardcore looking. Put that arguement to rest.

Why does NASA always mess with the natural colors on Mars? For years we were told the skies there were red, then NASA admits they used a red filter, supposedly to enhance the surface area features.... BS.
There's always more to the story, and I guarantee the privately funded space programs/technologies will or have went to Mars. NASA is not as far as we've come as a species with space technologies, but as long as we collectively believe NASA is the bees' knees as far as space tech, we won't be looking for the really good stuff humans are using right now, and demand it be released to the public.

reply to post by JibbyJedi


I agree with you 100% about NASA and the color changing they do.

I know, I have seen various explainations here on ATS but still, it all comes down to give us access to the orginals. Then play with them for effects etc.

reply to post by anon72


Thanks for making the thread Anon.

Have you seen this one yet?

'Swamp Gas' on Mars? - The Green Fog


Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell

reply to post by Exuberant1


No, I hadn't, Isn't that odd?

Man I wish we had feet on the ground there!!!

Thanks for putting that up there. I doubt the NASA laser aided that!

reply to post by Exuberant1


Looks like we've been shipping our nuclear waste to Mars!

Is the green in the actual photo or is that something that was added by you or someone else?

I like how NASA has been studying Mars for over 30 years now, but their stance on it just keeps changing.

"Mars is an extremely dry, frigid desert. Absolutely no water for sure."

"We see evidence of water..in the past. Probably millions of years ago. It's long gone now."

"Weeeeell...there MIGHT have been water in Mars' recent geological past. And by recent we mean thousands of years ago"

"We think there might be subsurface ice all over the planet, but it's far to cold for water to ever be liquid"

"Well, maybe under really rare circumstances, the ice might melt and flow onto the surface, but it would instantly sublimate. No chance of a water cycle here."

More and more it's looking like Mars isn't such an "arid, frozen desert" afterall, isn't it? There's no way they're just figuring this stuff out. They're just slooooowly warming people up to the idea that Mars might actually be habitable to some form of life before making "the big announcement".

reply to post by Charizard


One thing for sure. You can't trust the Gov't to tell us the truth.

That is why we need to support the Richard Branson types of our world.

Time will tell, but as I said, I will be long gone.