NASA VIDEO REVEALS 'FIENDISH' DUST DEVILS EATING EACH OTHER ON MARS

Newsweek Exclusive Feature

NASA's Perseverance rover captured dust devils "consuming" each other on Mars, revealing secrets from the Red Planet.

NASA has captured eerie new footage from Mars showing dust devils—miniature, fast-spinning whirlwinds—roaming the rim of its Jezero Crater, caught in a dance that sometimes ends with them devouring one another.

The short video, recorded by the Perseverance rover on January 25 and shared online by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, depicts several dust devils swirling across the Martian surface. Some appear to merge, collide or abruptly vanish in what one NASA scientist described as a kind of "fiendish" interplay of Martian weather.

"If you feel bad for the little devil in our latest video, it may give you some solace to know the larger perpetrator most likely met its own end a few minutes later," said Mark Lemmon, a Perseverance scientist, in a statement. "Dust devils on Mars only last about 10 minutes."

The Jezero Crater site, about 28 miles wide, is one of the most promising locations on Mars for studying ancient signs of life. It is thought to have once been flooded, and Perseverance is now exploring its rim for past life signatures and collecting rock core samples that could eventually be returned to the Earth.

The video offers more than just visual drama—it is a key data point for scientists seeking to understand Mars's weather. The formation of dust devils begins with warm air rising from the Martian surface and spinning into a column. As more air rushes in to replace it, the whirlwind gains strength and lifts dust into the air.

"These phenomena indicate atmospheric conditions, such as prevailing wind directions and speed, and are responsible for about half the dust in the Martian atmosphere," said Katie Stack Morgan, project scientist for the Perseverance rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a statement.

While they may be visually interesting, dust devils are significant for practical reasons. The dust they kick up affects the Martian climate and they can be difficult to study as scientists cannot predict when they will appear.

NASA's history with dust devils stretches back decades. The Viking orbiters first captured images of dust devils in the 1970s. Later missions—including Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity—have all recorded encounters. In 2021, Perseverance recorded the first-ever audio of a dust devil using its onboard SuperCam microphone.

Because these events are unpredictable, the rover frequently scans the horizon in all directions. Scientists adjust their monitoring based on trends—if dust devils are more active at a certain time of day or from a certain direction, they shift their focus accordingly.

Still, capturing video of multiple dust devils in a single scene is still tricky. In this new footage, some appear to fade as they interact, leading NASA's team to describe the display as dust devils eating each other.

Lemmon summed this up, "Convective vortices—aka dust devils—can be rather fiendish...If two dust devils happen upon each other, they can either obliterate one another or merge, with the stronger one consuming the weaker."

THANK YOU FOR READING

COVER IMAGE CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES

READ THE FULL STORY HERE: https://www.newsweek.com/nasa-mars-dust-devil-rover-space-2055411