The European Space Agency just spotted some Earth-like clouds more than 53 million miles away from our planet.
In a study published on Nov. 15 in the journal Icarus, the ESA’s Mars Express probe observed two 2019 dust storms on the Red Planet that produced cloud patterns eerily reminiscent of those on Earth. Despite the fact that the two planets have incredibly different atmospheres—Mars being dry and cold while Earth is dense, wet, and warm—the dust clouds would spiral and move much like those during extratropical cyclones on Earth.
The observation gives researchers more insight into the natural processes of cloud formation, despite the vast differences between the two planets.
“When thinking of a Mars-like atmosphere on Earth, one might easily think of a dry desert or polar region. It is quite unexpected then, that through tracking the chaotic movement of dust storms, that parallels can be drawn with the processes that occur in Earth’s moist, hot, and decidedly very un-Mars-like tropical regions,” Colin Wilson, ESA’s Mars Express project scientist, said in a statement. Wilson wasn’t directly involved in the study.
Read more: The Daily Beast
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