Watch a Martian Dust Devil on Camera using NASA’s Perseverance Rover!

In this episode, we will show you how NASA’s Perseverance rover captured a video of a dust devil on Mars, and what it can tell us about the Martian weather and climate. A dust devil is a swirling column of air and dust that forms when warm air rises and mixes with cooler air. They are common on Earth, but they are even more spectacular on Mars, where the thin atmosphere and the dry surface create ideal conditions for them to form. We will explain how the rover recorded and measured the dust devil, and how it compares to other dust devils observed by previous missions on Mars. We will also discuss how dust devils affect the Martian atmosphere and weather, and how they can trigger or contribute to larger dust storms on Mars, which are among the most extreme weather events in the solar system. This episode will answer the question: what does a dust devil on Mars mean and why is it so important? Chapters: 00:00 Introduction 00:51 How Perseverance Captured the Video of the Dust Devil 02:49 How Sci