A Dust Devil of Mars . ... Credit Copyright: HiRISE , MRO , LPL (U. Arizona) , NASA Explanation: It was late in the northern martian spring when the HiRISE camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spied this local denizen . Tracking south and east (down and right) across the flat, dust-covered Amazonis Planitia the core of the whirling dust devil is about 30 meters in diameter. ... Not following the path of the dust devil, the plume is blown toward the east by a westerly breeze. ...