Headline: Mars‘ Mysterious Winter Wonderland: Not Snow, But Frozen Carbon Dioxide
Subhead: New images from Mars Express and NASA reveal dynamic summer scenes with a touch of Martian ‘snow’, made of frozen CO2 instead of water.
Article:
Stunning new images from Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have captured a fascinating sight on the Red Planet: ‘snow’ on Mars. But unlike the snow we know on Earth, this is not made of water but frozen carbon dioxide (CO2).
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express, operated by the German Aerospace Center, and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have both snapped pictures of the ‘snowy’ scene in Australe Scopuli, near Mars’ south pole.
However, there’s a catch. Mars’ polar ‘snow’ is not a sign of winter but a dynamic process that occurs during the planet’s summer. The ‘snow’ is actually a seasonal layer of frozen CO2, around 8 meters thick, which disappears as the Martian summer progresses.
What’s causing the ‘snow’ effect?
Here’s the intriguing process behind this Martian phenomenon:
- Sublimation: When the Martian sun warms the frozen CO2, it starts to turn directly into gas (sublimation).
- Gas pockets formation: As this happens, gas pockets form within the frozen CO2.
- Dust blasts: The increasing pressure from these gas pockets eventually causes small explosions, blasting dark dust that was beneath the frozen CO2 into the air.
- Wind patterns: Mars’ winds then carry this dust, creating the swirling patterns seen in the images.
So, while these captivating images might look like a serene Martian winter scene, they’re actually showing off the planet’s dynamic summer processes. And temperatures? Still chilly at around -125°C.
This fascinating spectacle adds to our growing knowledge of Mars, thanks to ongoing missions like Mars Express and the recently concluded InSight mission, which continues to provide valuable insights even after its operations have ended.
About Mars Express
Mars Express is a European Space Agency (ESA) mission to Mars, launched in 2003, currently in extended mission, exploring Mars’ surface, subsurface, and atmosphere.
