Mars is a 'winter wonderland' in this frosty (and stunning) image from space
A newly released image of Mars shows an icy scene, with ribbons of red and white dancing across a frosty landscape near the planet's south pole.
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A newly released image of Mars shows an icy scene, with ribbons of red and white dancing across a frosty landscape near the planet's south pole.
While the snowy scene may evoke the feeling of a "winter wonderland" on the Red Planet, it was actually captured by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter on May 19. This means that the frigid image actually represents spring in the Martian southern hemisphere and the Martian ice was beginning to recede.
Just six days before much of Earth marks a new year, on Dec. 26, the Red Planet will commence its own new year, which will last 687 Earth days. The planet has four seasons, winter, spring, summer and autumn, and just like on Earth, the Red Planet's winter is cold and summer warm, although winter is much colder than ours, with temperatures on Mars dropping as low as minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius).
The yuletide period is special for Mars Express too: Christmas Day 2022 marks 19 years since the spacecraft arrived at Mars.
Arguably the most prominent features in the newly released image are two massive impact craters, banded with alternating layers of water ice and sediments called "polar layered deposits." These deposits can also be seen in the ridge that stretches between the two craters.
