Scientists puzzled by Mars haze

(Image credit: Twitter.com/BBCNewsbeat)

published 17 February 2015

Scientists are attempting to figure out what is causing a haze around Mars that appeared twice before vanishing.

Amateur astronomers first saw the plume in March 2012. It was visible for 10 days, then was spotted a month later for another 10 days before it disappeared. Scientists writing in the journal Nature have two theories: It could be an extremely bright aurora or a large cloud of carbon dioxide or water particles. "We know there are clouds on Mars, but clouds, up to this point, have been observed up to an altitude of 100km, and we are reporting a plume at 200km, so it is significantly different," Antonio Garcia Munoz, planetary scientist at the European Space Agency, told the BBC. "We know in this region on Mars, there have been auroras reported before. But the intensities we are reporting are much much higher than any auroras seen before on Mars or on Earth."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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