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What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 12:52 am
by RJN
Currently, the origin of unusual plumes on Mars is unknown. Please vote for your favorite explanation. This informal poll is connected to the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) of 2015 February 24, found here:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150224.html . If you have other thoughts, comments, or guesses as to the origin of these unusual plumes, please either post them below.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2015 7:29 am
by bystander
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:19 am
by Mike Herman
Meteorite impacts.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:53 am
by eric 2
Mike Herman wrote:Meteorite impacts.
in the same spot over 7 days?
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 5:56 am
by Texas Mike
Simply being hit by a meteor. I am sure it happens all the time.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:04 am
by Aliena Jackson
If there was enough evidence of water on Mars, I would opt for something akin to a geyser.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 7:41 am
by Ryan
My first thought was prolonged thermal venting, not unlike a volcanoe and it's associated network of magma and channels, but likely because mars is nothing like earth green and vibrant state of regeneration and life cycle, it is likely thermal/gas in nature and part of its atmospheric/environmental reconstitution. Stirring up dust and surface matter and/or some kind of charged or combusting particles occurring during periodic continuous "burst" and "currents" of the gases and contents being released from pressured chambers
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:20 am
by tm368
ALIENS HAVE BEAT US TO MARS AND WERE CAUGHT DOING MAJOR CONSTRUCTION USING NUCLEAR DEMOLITION!!!!!!! LOL
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 8:40 am
by manonmars
It's water vapour being ejected from deep in Mars . .hence the foggy Venus like cloud surrounding the planet
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:05 am
by Lilly
manonmars wrote:It's water vapour being ejected from deep in Mars . .hence the foggy Venus like cloud surrounding the planet
That was my first thought....
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:26 am
by mnvikings0
medium sized meteor impact
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 10:07 am
by Obelisk
My first thought was volcanism, but I think an meteorite - impact is more likely. Because this plume is seen in the pole region, I imagine that the impact causes frozen gas and water to melt and cristallize again in the atmosphere reflecting sunlight, making the plume look denser than it actually is.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:18 pm
by Frank-O
Meteor impact would be my guess.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:32 pm
by wkingmilw
There may be more than one type of cause and plume, all of which would look about the same from this distance.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:37 pm
by makndo
Could the plume be related to seasonal changes--spring in the northern hemisphere of Mars would sublimate the frozen gases at the pole and create an expanding cloud of ice crystals .
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 12:51 pm
by Guest
Ummm, some pretty imaginative answers, yet the obvious one was not listed. I wonder why?
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:17 pm
by visualj
I seem to recall an Isaac Asimov (writing as Paul French) story that described dust storms on Mars that were extremely bad because static electricity would suspend the dust particles. maybe that is it...
Luck Starr and the Sands of Mars?
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 1:19 pm
by Spectrum
The Mysterons,
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:17 pm
by starsurfer
Maybe it is a dust based version of a geyser?
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:29 pm
by Calmdown
Calm down. Its just a new Walmart being built. sheesh.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:45 pm
by DrDrako
Obviously: Thermal plume above an alien tailgate party around a cluster of old surface-rovers thought to be long dead.
Second guess: Look to interacting near-polar water and or CO2 surface-atmosphere processes.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:47 pm
by Stephen B
Wait a couple weeks until the first cylinder lands and you'll know what this means!
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 2:58 pm
by Rob444b
Stephan. I agree with you cylinders from Mars was my first thought!
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 3:11 pm
by gr810r
Burning Man, Martian version.
Re: What do you think the unusual plumes on Mars are?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 3:20 pm
by CubbyBear3
Perhaps is is some kind of Martian "Aurora" which according to wikipedia can go as high as 1,000 km in Earth's atmosphere.