Caught in the Act
Jet Propulsion Laboratory https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/ Sept. 5, 2005
5 September 2005
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust devil caught in the act of creating a dark streak on the floor of the large, south mid-latitude crater, Mendel. Dozens of other dark streaks mark the paths of earlier dust devils. Dust devil streaks at southern middle and high latitudes are seasonal features; they are erased each winter by thin deposits of dust and frost, and they are re-created each spring and summer by new dust devils.
Location near: 58.9°S, 199.4°W
Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi)
Illumination from: upper left
Season: Southern Spring