Monday, March 3, 2008

MRO catches dusty avalanche on Mars in the act!

For a change here's a pointer to a most amazing image from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera: It shows at least four Martian avalanches, or debris falls, in action on Feb. 19! It is extremely rare to catch such a dramatic event in action. Recently the MRO also imaged Earth & Moon from Mars orbit, demonstrating its enormous resolution.

In other news the recent lunar eclipse has been analyzed for the dustiness of Earth's atmosphere (not much volcanic debris there) while in contrast the "536 AD climate event" that some thought was caused by a cosmic impact has now been shown to have a volcanic origin. And there are yet more technical details of the USA 193 attack being determined by eager amateurs.

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