Clouds Around Olympus Mons
Clouds around the summit of Olympus Mons.
This mosaic of the six Viking 1 Orbiter images f041a60, f041a62 to 65, and f041a67, taken on July 31, 1976, from a distance of 8,000 km, shows the flanks and complex caldera of the Olympus Mons volcano protruding above thin clouds of water ice. The top of the cloud blanket is about 19 km above the mean ground level and 8 km below the summit. Parts of the cloud cover have a cellular appearance, indicating convection within the clouds.
A well-developed wave cloud several hundred kilometers long is visible towards the limb.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University/Mosaic by astroarts.org
