Dust Devil on Mars – First Ever Sound Recording
Sounds from the Red Planet!
First recording of a dust devil
When the rover Perseverance landed on Mars, it was equipped with the first working microphone on the planet's surface. By chance, NASA rover had this mic on when a whirling tower of red dust passed directly overhead. Scientists have used it to make the first-ever audio recording of an extraterrestrial whirlwind, better known as the „dust devil“
Ever wanted to hear sounds from another planet? Here is your chance, listen to the sound of martian dust devils:
Dust Devil Mechanics
Well, what exactly is a „dust devil“? Imagine a massive tornado, that is basically what a martian dust devil is. A swirling column of wind and dust. On Mars, dust devils occur frequently and their tracks crisscross large areas. Although dust devils are often observed in flat desert plains, these energetic winds can also cross hills, ridges, valleys, and craters. They are most active in mid – summer and the largest ones can reach heights of up to 8 kilometers or 5 miles. You did not read that wrong, some dust devils on Mars are indeed almost as tall as the highest peak of the Himalayas – Mount Everest.
Dust devils on Mars form in much the same way as those on Earth: when the ground gets hotter than the air above it, rising plumes of hot air move through cooler denser air, creating an updraft, with the cooler air sinking and setting up a vertical circulation. If a horizontal gust of wind blows through, the dust devil is triggered. Once whirling fast enough, the spinning funnels can pick up dust and push it around the surface.
Importance of acoustics in understanding Mars
This recording provides vital information for future missions to the red planet. The data obtained demonstrates that astronauts will not have to worry about strong winds destroying antennas or habitats. The wind itself may actually have some benefits. In the past, the breeze has actually been blowing grit and dirt off the rover's solar panels.
Roger Wiens, professor of Earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences at Purdue University’s College of Science, who leads the instrument team that made the discovery, said: “We can learn a lot more using sound than we can with some of the other tools. They take readings at regular intervals. The microphone lets us sample, not quite at the speed of sound, but nearly 100,000 times a second. It helps us get a stronger sense of what Mars is like.”