Wind within vs. wind without
What on Mars?
August 5, 2014How the wind turns
August 18, 2014
A piece of Mars: Dunes outside the crater are straight but the ones inside the crater look like a spiderweb. Why? This image shows just how much the topography of a crater wall can affect the wind, which produces a much more complex set of dunes inside than out on the plains. (HiRISE ESP_037195_1625 NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona)
2 Comments
Hi, LF Do you think the impact field at 3 o’clock is from one meteor?
It probably is from one meteor. Weak (small, slow) meteors tend to break up in the atmosphere, and then make several smaller craters, rather than one large one. Another possibility is that it’s a cluster of secondaries from a large impact nearby, but I don’t see many other similar clusters in this HiRISE image. So I’m inclined to think it’s a primary cluster. Of course, fieldwork may be the only way to tell for sure…