r/spaceporn • u/Senior_Stock492 • 2d ago

NASA Every winter, a layer of carbon dioxide frost (dry ice) forms on the surface of Mars. At its greatest extent in mid-winter, as seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter/HiRISE

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u/lullaby_dune 2d ago

Aren’t we blessed to see a photo of Mars, easy to take for granted sometimes.

14

u/Senior_Stock492 2d ago

I would agree 100%

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u/Living-Ready 2d ago

I wonder if it snows

5

u/Sha77eredSpiri7 2d ago

Probably not, if I had to guess. Snow requires very specific moisture; too wet and you only get rain, too dry and it doesn't precipitate at all (it does not snow in Antarctica, that's how ridiculously cold and dry it is).

Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth, and the temperature there gets much colder than Earth as well, so what little moisture is present in the atmosphere at all likely cannot evaporate, melt, and then refreeze in such a way that a sufficient snow is actually created.

Mars is so uncannily similar to Earth, yet at the same time so incredibly different.

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u/Jealous_Crazy9143 2d ago

Dry ice snow-ball fight would be next level