Plumes on Mars spotted by amature astronomers.

[Aethon]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2955902/The-mysterious-giant-clouds-spotted-Mars-Scientists-left-baffled-150-mile-high-plumes-coming-red-planet.html

Edited February 17, 2015 by Aethon

[LordFerret]

Very cool. Any speculation as to what it's outgassing?

[Sampa]

could be a meteor strike!

[TheScareCake!]

I think it may have something do with recent methane level raising and dropping..

[Aethon]

From the ESA:

On two separate occasions in March and April 2012, amateur astronomers reported definite plume-like features developing on the planet.

The features developed in less than 10 hours, covering an area of up to 1000 x 500 km, and remained visible for around 10 days, changing their structure from day to day.

None of the spacecraft orbiting Mars saw the features because of their viewing geometries and illumination conditions at the time.

However, checking archived Hubble Space Telescope images taken between 1995 and 1999 and of databases of amateur images spanning 2001 to 2014 revealed occasional clouds at the limb of Mars, albeit usually only up to 100 km in altitude.

But one set of Hubble images from 17 May 1997 revealed an abnormally high plume, similar to that spotted by the amateur astronomers in 2012.

“One idea we’ve discussed is that the features are caused by a reflective cloud of water-ice, carbon dioxide-ice or dust particles, but this would require exceptional deviations from standard atmospheric circulation models to explain cloud formations at such high altitudes,†says Agustin.

“Another idea is that they are related to an auroral emission, and indeed auroras have been previously observed at these locations, linked to a known region on the surface where there is a large anomaly in the crustal magnetic field,†adds Antonio Garcia Munoz, a research fellow at ESA’s ESTEC and co-author of the study.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/Mystery_Mars_plume_baffles_scientists/(print)

[Scotius]

Interesting. Looks like Mars is not as dead as most of us think. Clouds, tornadoes - that old, rusty rock still has some weather going

[SpaceExplorer]

“One idea we’ve discussed is that the features are caused by a reflective cloud of water-ice, carbon dioxide-ice or dust particles, but this would require exceptional deviations from standard atmospheric circulation models to explain cloud formations at such high altitudes,†says Agustin.

I never knew that such a high altitude cloud could potentially be due to surface albedo. Very cool, and even more rewarding that it was amateur astronomers who discovered this amazing find.

[xenomorph555]

Quaid start the reactor...

[Camacha]

Interesting. Looks like Mars is not as dead as most of us think. Clouds, tornadoes - that old, rusty rock still has some weather going

The dust storms that plagued and saved the MER rovers made that more than clear to me Mars might be dying, but is not dead yet.

[SemiaCloud]

Planetary flatulence? - My brother.

[Panzerbeard]

"At midnight on the 12th of August, a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth.

Across two-hundred-million miles of void, invisibly hurtling towards us, came the first of the missiles that were bring so much calamity to Earth. As I watched there was another jet of gas. It was another missile starting on his way "

[Scotius]

"At midnight on the 12th of August, a huge mass of luminous gas erupted from Mars and sped towards Earth.

Across two-hundred-million miles of void, invisibly hurtling towards us, came the first of the missiles that were bring so much calamity to Earth. As I watched there was another jet of gas. It was another missile starting on his way "

Bring 'em on!

[KerikBalm]

We can take on any martians....

I'm not afraid of anything in our solarsystem.

*If you come from another star... I for one welcome our new overlords, and remind you that I make an excellent pet or breeding specimen.

[Panzerbeard]

Bring 'em on!

It'll be fine, just waft the common cold in their general direction and it should all blow over xD

[vger]

It'll be fine, just waft the common cold in their general direction and it should all blow over xD

I was wondering when someone would think of the Martian launchers.

[BFGfreak]

What's interesting is that since technology has advanced so far since H.G. Wells wrote that book that should the martians from the book attempted an assault, we'd wipe the floor with them. That's why all the movies show martians differently than how Wells described them, because there's a bit of difference between the HMS Thunderchild and the USS John Paul Jones.

[Starwhip]

What's interesting is that since technology has advanced so far since H.G. Wells wrote that book that should the martians from the book attempted an assault, we'd wipe the floor with them. That's why all the movies show martians differently than how Wells described them, because there's a bit of difference between the HMS Thunderchild and the USS John Paul Jones.

The heat ray would love to have a word with your country's armed forces.

Though I agree, just drone-strike the stuffing out of them and we'll be alright.

Or lure them out into the middle of nowhere and nuke 'em, as the public would say.

[Scotius]

Remember guys - there is no stealth in space. We would know they are coming, what orbit they would use, and when they would arrive. On the last leg of their journey every radar station possible would track them 24\7. Our reaction would depend on how scared\bloodthirsty politicians would be. We do have anti-satellite missiles and anti-ICBM defence systems ready to use after all. In case our "guests" were allowed to land, only to be stupid enough to attack immediately - well...it goes without saying we would have enough firepower within striking distance ready to blast them to pieces immediately.

[vger]

Remember guys - there is no stealth in space. We would know they are coming, what orbit they would use, and when they would arrive. On the last leg of their journey every radar station possible would track them 24\7.

Depends. IF the cylinders worked they way they did in the book, we probably wouldn't even bat an eye. We'd never see the first wave coming. Once they left Mars, they were purely ballistic with a trajectory so accurate, that they just aero-braked into Earth's atmosphere and then slammed into the ground. The cylinders didn't even have engines - from the outside they appeared to be seamless metal objects. They were launched from Mars by a cannon, "Jules Verne" style. IF we picked them up on the way in, we'd figure they were meteors, shrug, and move on, assuming they'd burn up.

Once stuff started crawling out of the cylinders and causing chaos, there'd be a tremendous amount of renewed interest in asteroid deflection.

If anyone is bored and wants to hear a somewhat more modern take on the classic Orson Welles hoax that doesn't completely butcher and reinvent the invaders, check this out from 1971.

Edited April 12, 2015 by vger

[DaveofDefeat]

From plumes on mars to martian invasion, gg 10/10 thread.

[KerikBalm]

The heat ray would love to have a word with your country's armed forces.

Though I agree, just drone-strike the stuffing out of them and we'll be alright.

Or lure them out into the middle of nowhere and nuke 'em, as the public would say.

Beyond visual range missiles would take out those cylinders no problem*

* Unless they can intercept those missiles.

It should be noted that *we* have "heat rays" (lasers) that are capable of just that.

Still, given the small numbers, we'd easily overwhelm them with many missiles at once.

Between GPS guided shells and munitions, our own experimental laser and railgun systems... I think we could take out a handful of tripods that have a very large profile.

Chemical warfare has also prepared us for their black smoke.