First extraterrestrial dust devils

First seen from orbit by the Viking spacecraft in the 1970s, the dust devils on Mars can tower many kilometres above the landscape. They are caused as the Sun warms the ground, heating the air above it which rises and starts to spin, as well as pick up loose dust. In 2005 a dust devil passed over NASA´s Spirit rover, blowing off dust that had accumulated on its solar panels, and improving its power levels.