It's starting to look a lot like Christmas—on Mars. The otherworldly landscape is mostly a stark shade of red. But recent photos reveal the unusual cold features that turn the Red Planet's south pole white.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Mars Express spacecraft captured stunning views of the Martian winter wonderland. But this isn't your normal snow. But Mars' south pole is covered in a layer of ice and carbon dioxide dust. ESAIt creates mesmerizing scenes across the Australe Scopuli region in the global south.
Winter temperatures on Mars can drop as low as -190 degrees Fahrenheit (-123 degrees Celsius). But the snow wasn't more than a few feet thick. Snow on Mars differs from snow on Earth in two flavors: ice, water and carbon dioxide. or dry ice, on the one hand, ice turns into a gas before it touches the surface. Because of the thin atmosphere of the planet, on the other hand, dry ice reach the surface–
Even though it looks like a winter wonderland But this picture was taken in June. It's almost summertime at Mars' south pole, according to ESA. releaseThe sun's warm rays cause the seasonal ice shelves to begin retreating. This is clearly visible on the left side of the image where a dark patch hovers in.
When sunlight shines through the translucent layer of dry ice, The ice below sublimates—vaporizing directly from its solid state—and creates a cloud of trapped gas. The pressure builds until the ice layer at the top begins to crack. This results in a gas jet penetrating the surface. and blows dark dust from below After the explosion passed The dust falls to the surface in the shape of a fan due to the wind.
In this top view of Australe Scopuli's seasonal ice sheet, layers of ice and dust overlap in a dream that swirls across the Martian surface. The image was taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express, giving a topography of the terrain derived from a digital topographic model. This image offers a closer look at the fan-shaped pattern created by the dust explosion. This creates a boundary between the deposited layers.
ESA's Mars Express launched in 2003 and has provided stunning images of the Martian landscape for more than 20 years. The spacecraft has compiled the most complete map of the chemical composition of the Martian atmosphere. Observe the moons Phobos and Deimos in detail. and trace the history of water across Mars. According to ESA– The mission also carried a lander named Beagle 2, but that was it. disappeared upon arrival and no scientific work has ever been carried out on the red planet. (or apparently white)