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Amateur Astronomer Spots Strange Cloud Formations On Mars
techfun89 writes "Mars has returned to our evening skies as it does every two years. This time it is getting even more attention and buzz than it normally would. Amateur astronomer Wayne Jaeschke of West Chester Pennsylvania noticed an unusual protrusion in the planet's southern hemisphere, preceding the sunrise terminator. Several things may have contributed to this strange 'cloud formation.' One possibility is a meteoric impact event, where dust was spewed up into the atmosphere. Another could be a major dust storm, which are typical on Mars. Of course, it could be something more mundane; that these observations were caused by a mere optical illusion via a type of glint that occurred due to having just the right combination of lighting and atmospheric conditions. Some suggest volcanic activity, though this is unlikely given it has been 20 to 200 million years since lava has flowed on Mars."
The linked article is fairly contradictory on several points. The glaring one is this:
" It was first seen on the evening of March 20th. Jaeschke alerted the international Mars observing community about the odd "extension" at 190.5Â east, 43.7Â south, just before the area that rotates into daylight. The odd feature was visible in all color-filtered exposures from near-infrared to blue light. Jaeschke produced the animation below.
The feature was also reportedly captured by other amateur astronomers over the past few nights. Some astronomers in Europe have seen it as far back as March 12th."
So, it was NOT first seen on the 20th, but rather on the 12th in Europe, and the guy in West Chester is not the discoverer of it.
I, for one, welcome our new cloud-based overlords.
Everyone knows that the cloud formation is caused by a rocket launch.
Why the hell does this article show up in my RSS reader with an ad for "Psychic" -yeah, right- Norah? Can't Google Ads make the distinction between astronomy and astrology?
You mean he didn't blame aliens?
...invasion!
...desperately trying to boost film attendance, JC is making a scene
It looks like a weather balloon filled with swamp gas...
Task Mangler
It's obvious, Quaid/Hauser has started the reactor!
Staaahh the reaaactuhhh!
Blue sky on mars, I can't wait to visit venusville!
The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million-to-one. I wouldn't worry about it folks.
if there is not enough oxygen in the thin Mars atmosphere what if natural gas in the ground occasionally erupts but does not ignite (if there is no ignition or lack of oxygen)
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Clearly this has been caused by the rocket engines of a military force, on its way to Earth as we speak! Time to break out the biological weapons!
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
So if we can see it from Earth, shouldn't you be able to see it from one of the various devices we have stationed on/around Mars? Can't we grab the camera and pan around to see if there are any towering pillars of smoke/dust/clouds hanging around?
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
As people struggle to figure out what the cause of this phenomenon is, I have to wonder... some people (far fewer than should be,) watch the skies on Earth for objects that may strike the Earth. Is anybody watching out for objects (based on trajectories,) that could impact other planets locally? It would be great, right now, to know (for those interested in whether or not this is from ancient life, a buried forest as one /. commenter suggested), if this could have been from a comet or asteroid, or if it's from internal activity, a volcano, or whatever.
So is anyone watching? Would we need a set of Mars based telescopes to do that effectively, and wouldn't that be a cool project?
...invasion!
So it has come to this...
At midnight on the twelfth of August^h^h^h^h^h^h March, 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 to bring so much calamity to Earth.
Just asking'.
Perhaps K'Breel, leader of the Council can enlighten us ?
...with a clean lens.
... crater?
As an advanced civilization, the Marsmen have given up higher technology. They're trying to communicate with us by smoke signal.
This news story would be much more exciting and interesting if it were the discovery of an ET martian base, possibly for scientific observation of the Earth. Otherwise, it seems to be rather mind numbingly boring.
the cloud is formed from all the money Disney burned and lost to make and market John Carter of Mars
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Witnesses are not sure if it is due to Venus or Uranus. Mars had no comment.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
The chances of it being anything else are a million-to-one.
When Mariner 9 (and 2 Soviet Mars orbiters) the planet was having the worst dust storm in decades. The entire surface was basically invisible from orbit, which hasn't happened since.
The reason I bring this is up is that this storm did not reach above the atmosphere. It was observed from Earth, but caused nothing like the pictures of the recent event - and that was more or less the biggest storm ever seen. So, if this is real, I don't think it's a dust storm.
At last we will reveal ourselves to the earthlings, at last we will have revenge!
- Marvin The Martian