A huge dust storm that engulfed the Mars Perseverance rover has been captured in an eerie recording.
The video shows the dust storm rising to a colossal 390.4 feet (119 meters).
It was captured as part of an analysis that was published on December 13 in the journal Nature Communications, and reveals new information about how these storms move dust around on the Red Planet.
Study lead author Naomi Murdoch told Live Science : "We can actually hear the noise of particles impacting the rover.
"The sound of these impacts allows us to count how many particles were in the vortex."
The physicist added that this is the first time a measurement of such size has been taken on Mars.
Dust is omnipresent on the surface and in the air on Mars, with its movement influencing both the weather and climate on the Red Planet.
Murdoch explained that understanding the movement of dust is important for modelling the planet's climate and planning missions.
Over the years, Perseverance's wind sensors have been damaged by dust and the InSight Lander is wrapping up operations due to dust accumulating on its solar panels.
This has drastically limited the amount of power available for scientific monitoring.
Dust storms of such size occur when warm air near the ground rises and rotates, lifting dust with it.
Perseverance is currently exploring the Jezero crater, which is prime territory for dust devils.
According to the group of researchers, the rover's Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA), which monitors environmental features like dust, humidity, temperature, and wind, has captured at least 91 dust devils near the rover.
However, on September 21, 2021, a dust devil swept over the rover, allowing the researchers to take measurements of the spectacle as it was recorded.
Using three sources of data, the scientists discovered that the storm was 82 feet (25 m) across, which is almost 10 times wider than the rover.
Standing at 390.4 feet, the towering storm was moving at 11.8 mph (19 kilometers per hour) and its peak winds hit 24.8mph (40km/h).
Murdoch added: "However, on Mars, the atmosphere is much thinner than on Earth.
"This means that, even if the wind speed is high, due to the small number of particles in the Martian atmosphere, the force of the wind is much smaller than on Earth."
The physicist went on to explain how typical dust devils see particles residing in the walls of the vortex but in this instance, the dust hit the rover in three bursts.
She said: "Today we still don't understand exactly how dust is lifted from the surface of Mars, yet this is a crucial part of modeling both dust devils and dust storms.
"We have demonstrated that with the microphone we can directly observe the process of dust lifting and characterize the conditions under which such lifting occurs."
