Largest dust devil in the Solar System
- Who
- Mars
- What
- 12 mile(s)
- Where
- Not Applicable
- When
- 14 March 2012
Mars is renown for creating large dust devils - columns of dust formed in vortices like a tornado - with most being at least twice the height of their counterparts on Earth. However, the largest dust devil ever recorded on Mars was approximately 12 miles (20km) high and observed by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image of this event was captured on 14th March 2012 in the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars.
The dust devil was around 70 yards (~70m) wide and has not been surpassed although a 650m dust devil was observed as recently as October 2019