An image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a massive dust storm in the southern hemisphere of Mars. Photo: NASA/AP

NASA says it is monitoring a massive dust storm on Mars that has produced atmospheric changes.

One thing we want to learn is why do some Martian dust storms get to this size and stop growing, while others this size keep growing and go global.

It's the first time since the 1970s that NASA is studying such a phenomenon both from orbit and with a weather station on the surface, the US space agency said on its website.

Monitoring the dust storm ... an artist's impression of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Photo: NASA/AP

"This is now a regional dust storm," said Rich Zurek, chief Mars scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "It has covered a fairly extensive region with its dust haze, and it is in a part of the planet where some regional storms in the past have grown into global dust hazes."

Advertisement

Regional dust storms expanded and affected vast areas of the Red Planet in 2001 and 2007.

"One thing we want to learn is why do some Martian dust storms get to this size and stop growing, while others this size keep growing and go global," said Zurek.

Following decades of observations, experts know there is a seasonal pattern to the largest Martian dust storms, according to NASA. The most recent dust storm season began just a few weeks ago with the beginning of spring in the southern hemisphere.

Go here to see the original:

NASA monitors massive dust storm on Mars