A Martian Autumn Begins
Explanation:
Today is the first day of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere of
Planet Earth.
The Autumnal Equinox occured yesterday at
7:56 pm
EDT as the Sun crossed the celestial equator from North to South.
Mars has seasons too and for
the same reason that Earth does --
like Earth, Mars' axis of rotation is tilted with respect to
the plane of its orbit around the sun.
Eleven days ago Autumn also came to
Mars' Northern Hemisphere and
the Hubble Space Telescope
recorded this image of the red planet
to look for
seasonal changes in the Martian weather.
Clouds appear to cover the north polar regions while a dust storm
rages in the south.
The subject of weather on Mars is important to the
just arrived Mars Global Surveyor
spacecraft as it uses the
innovative technique of aerobraking to establish a suitable
mapping orbit around Mars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
