The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a NASA space probe designed to explore Mars from its orbit together with other probes and the Mars Rovers. It was launched on August 12, 2005, it reached Mars on March 10, 2006 and in November 2006 it finally entered its final orbit scheduled to begin scientific studies with its various instruments. The duration of its mission was two years, later extended so the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is continuing to collect data on Mars.

On February 16, 2012 one of the instruments of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a huge camera called the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), captured images of a dust devil in the region called Amazonis Planitia, a large plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars.

Dust devil are common on Mars but this one is really huge. Its plume has a diameter of about 30 meters (100 feet) and a height of 800 meters (about half a mile). Martian atmosphere is much thinner than the Earth’s and is composed almost entirely of carbon dioxide nonetheless Martian winds can be very intense. The consequence is that dust devils of enormous size can form such as the one photographed by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

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Both on Earth and on Mars, unlike a tornado, a dust devil typically is formed when the weather is good. In fact, its formation is caused by the ground’s overheating that creates a whirlwind that rises through a layer of cooler air. The vortex may spin when the air that enters its sides isn’t uniform.

In recent years, various dust devils have helped clean up the solar panels of the Mars Rovers, on which the sand accumulates over time. This has helped to extend their life well beyond the three months of their original mission.

During this time, Mars is at its aphelion, its maximum distance from the Sun. Like on Earth, the heat that comes from the Sun warms up the air giving energy to the winds but even now large dust devils can be created. Luckily, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to photograph this really spectacular sand devil!