# The ‘Exotic Physics’ Behind a Mysterious 1,000-Mile Cloud on Mars

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-exotic-physics-behind-a-mysterious-1000-mile-cloud-on-mars/
- Published: 2026-10-23T09:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-23T10:41:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Wired
- Original article: https://www.wired.com/story/the-exotic-physics-behind-a-mysterious-1000-mile-cloud-on-mars/
- Topics: Americas, Research, Science, Space, Technology, World

## Key points

- A model offers a possible explanation for a 1,000-mile Martian cloud.
- It may form without dust or other particles.
- The process would require exceptionally high humidity and rapid cooling.

## Summary

Researchers have modelled how a vast cloud near Mars’s Arsia Mons volcano could form, offering the first plausible explanation for a feature recorded in 2018. The results suggest it may arise through a process not directly observed in any planetary atmosphere, challenging assumptions about how clouds form.

The study, published in Nature Geoscience, proposes that water vapour may turn straight into ice crystals without dust or other particles, a process called homogeneous nucleation. It would require a temperature drop of 30°C in 10 minutes and humidity more than 100,000 times any level measured on Earth; winds forced upwards by the 65,000-foot volcano may help create those conditions.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.