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Curiosity rover spots ‘dust devil’ on Mars, NASA shares animated video
“So interesting! Thank you NASA for contributing to humanity’s never-ending quest for knowledge!” wrote an Instagram user while commenting on the post.
Magnificent and mysterious, those are just two among many adjectives which people often use to describe Mars. The Red Planet has been a subject of human fascination for long and thanks to the social media presence of difference space agencies, every now and then, we get a glimpse of the place in form of images and videos. Just like this recent animated clip from NASA, shared on Instagram, which showcases “dust devil” spotted on the planet by Curiosity rover.
“Mars is often a very dynamic place, due to its atmosphere and how it interacts with the surface. Right now, it’s the “windy season” in the region where our Curiosity rover is operating. On August 9, one of the rover’s navigation cameras captured the frames in this animation showing a spinning, columnar vortex of wind - also known as a “dust devil” - moving across the landscape,” they wrote in the caption.
The space agency further added that it appeared that the dust devil was passing “through small hills just above Curiosity’s present location on Mount Sharp, a peak within Gale Crater.” It was about “approximately one-third to a half-mile (half-a-kilometer to a kilometer) away, and estimated to be about 16 feet (5 meters) wide.”
Take a look at the animated video which has now mesmerised many and gathered close to 1.9 million views.
Since being shared a few hours ago, the video has also amassed close to two lakh views – and the numbers are only increasing. Additionally, it has also gathered over 2,300 comments. People didn’t hold back while expressing their surprise.
“So interesting! Thank you NASA for contributing to humanity’s never-ending quest for knowledge!” wrote an Instagram user. “Very interesting,” expressed another. “Unreal,” said a third. “Very cool,” said a fourth.
What do you think of NASA’s post?
