Watch as a Martian Dust Devil ‘Engulfs’ Another in New Video Captured by NASA’s Perseverance Rover

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Tracking dust devils helps researchers learn more about Mars’ atmosphere, wind and weather conditions

Margherita Bassi – Daily Correspondent

April 9, 2025 1:27 p.m.

NASA’s Perseverance rover has recently documented a captivating atmospheric event on Mars, providing insights into the planet’s weather systems. The imagery showcases a larger dust devil interacting with a smaller one at Jezero Crater, reminiscent of the playful Tasmanian Devil from the animated series Looney Tunes.

According to Mark Lemmon, a scientist on the Perseverance team at the Space Science Institute, dust devils traverse the Martian surface, stirring up dust and reducing visibility in their vicinity. He notes that when two dust devils converge, they may either cancel each other out or merge, with the stronger one engulfing the weaker one.

Perseverance recorded this event on January 25 while navigating the western rim of Jezero Crater, known as Witch Hazel Hill. The rover, positioned approximately 0.6 miles away, captured images of a dust devil approximately 210 feet in diameter absorbing a smaller twister measuring about 16 feet across. NASA has compiled these images into a brief video clip.

On Mars, dust devils form when the ground’s heat causes air to rise through the cooler surrounding atmosphere. This process generates rotating columns of air, akin to how an ice skater speeds up by pulling their arms in. The tornado-like formations lift dust into the atmosphere, effectively redistributing Martian soil.

Katie Stack Morgan, the Perseverance project’s scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, highlights that dust devils are integral to understanding Mars’ climatic conditions. They provide valuable information regarding wind patterns and are responsible for dispersing a significant portion of the dust found in the Martian atmosphere.

While it may be tempting to liken Martian dust devils to Earth’s tornadoes, experts clarify that the scale and intensity of these whirlwinds are far less formidable. Priya Patel, an atmospheric scientist, explains that the thin Martian atmosphere means that the winds produced by dust devils would be experienced more as a gentle breeze than a powerful storm, albeit one that might leave dust on nearby explorers.

Recent research indicated that Martian dust poses distinct risks, particularly concerning respiratory health for potential astronauts. Julia Cartwright, a planetary scientist at the University of Leicester, noted that Martian dust is sharp and can irritate lung tissues, providing stark contrasts to Earth’s dust, which tends to be smoother over time.

This Martian dust has already posed challenges to previous missions. Notably, a massive dust storm in 2018 led to the permanent shutdown of NASA’s Opportunity rover by blocking its solar panels. Similarly, the InSight lander faced difficulties in a dust storm in 2022. In light of these issues, NASA equipped both the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers with nuclear power sources to enhance their resilience against such environmental challenges.

Since landing on Mars in 2021, Perseverance has recorded multiple dust devil encounters, including audio captures of their movement. NASA’s Pathfinder mission in 1997 was the first to take ground-level images of these vortices. Ongoing investigations into these events and the characteristics of Martian dust are crucial as NASA prepares for its ambitious goal of sending humans to Mars, potentially in the 2030s.

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www.smithsonianmag.com