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Is It Snowing on Mars? Photos From Mars Orbiters Show a ‘White Christmas’

snow on mars
Photo via European Space Agency

See if you can spot Frosty in the latest images from the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter, which has sent back images of a gorgeous winter scene on the planet’s south pole. Only, the beautiful white wintry scene isn’t made up of snow at all, at least not the way we understand it.

While earthly snow is made up of frozen water crystals, the snow in Mars’ Australe Scopuli region is made of layers of carbon dioxide ice and dust that have blanketed the surface of Mars’ south pole to give the normally rusty red planet a wintry hue making it resemble a field in the American Midwest.

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Also like the American Midwest, this region of Mars is known for its brutal winters (though a North Dakota Christmas has nothing on Mars’ negative 190 degrees Fahrenheit weather during the winter months).

Mars’ atmosphere is so thin that the seasonal ice sheets blanketing the region begin to sublimate, meaning it’s quickly converted from a solid to a vapor before it even touches the surface. But dry ice remains solid on the surface, which gives the ground its baseline layer of frostiness.

Those beautiful swirl patterns you see that look like cream added to a cup of coffee come from pressure built up within pockets of trapped gas beneath all that sublimated vapor. Those pockets eventually pop, bringing the dirt and dust of Mars to the surface. The winds of Mars carry this icy dirt and fan it out onto the surface to create the beautiful patterns you see in the images.

The ESA is only releasing these images now, but they were originally taken in June when summer neared the South Pole of Mars. While Earth’s northern hemisphere freezes over, the Martians living on the red planet’s south pole are kicking back in their bathing suits soaking in the rays as they enjoy their summer vacations.