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A Martian dust devil was caught making noise.
13th (local time) New study published in Nature CommunicationsAccording to Mars, when the rover Perseverance was exploring an ancient lake on Mars, a huge dust whirlwind passed over it, and a microphone accidentally turned on recorded the dust devil’s voice for the first time.
Mars is dusty and windy, creating whirlwinds of dust that are called dust devils. This is a common phenomenon that is created when the surface of Mars, warmed by the sun, rises rapidly through the cooler atmosphere. NASA’s Mars lander InSight also recorded seismic and magnetic signals generated by dust devils. However, this is the first time the sound has been captured.
The recording of the dust devil’s sound was made possible by accident.
Percivirence’s microphone isn’t constantly on, but it records about three minutes a day every few days. Here’s the dust devil’s voice caught. It was on September 27th of last year. It is about 11 seconds long.
It’s not unexpected. Since February of last year, when Percivirance landed in Jejero Crater, it has observed evidence of about 100 dust devils here.
Mars has an atmosphere that is about 1% as dense as Earth’s, making it difficult to make sound. Even when a storm rages, it doesn’t make a huge sound.
The dust devil’s sound is subtle. The Washington Post (WP) expressed, “It crackles like when static electricity strikes, but you can also imagine a breeze shaking the leaves of palm trees in the distance.” “Then there is a few seconds of silence as the dust devil passes over the perseverance,” the WP said. done,” he said.
Analyzing these brief noises and the visual images taken by the SuperCam above Perseverance, the researchers estimated that the dust devil was about 25 meters (m) wide and 118 meters tall. It is taller than the Statue of Liberty, including the pedestal.
“Dust storms are important for understanding the climate on Mars,” said Naomi Murdoch, Ph.D., from ISAE-SUPAERO, University of Toulouse, France, first author of the study. ) can improve our understanding of dust devils and will help improve climate models for Mars.”
“However, research is needed because microscopic particles and the like can damage hardware such as the rover’s scientific equipment,” said Dr. Murdoch. He added that Percivirance’s wind sensor had already been damaged by dust particles.