Martian Polar Horse
30 December 2009
Last Updated on 30 December 2009
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Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Flying across the ice fields of Mars, we find all sorts of strange and familiar shapes. I imagine this horse leaping in the thin ice layers in the southern polar region shown in this image from NASA’s HiRISE camera aboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The polar regions of Mars are very similar to Earth’s. The caps shrink and grow with the seasons. But while the snow of Earth’s ice caps is made up of water ice, Mars polar regions consist of a frost of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice. Over time, cracks and pits form in the icy crust. These grow and change as the Sun warms the north-facing sides.
Explore the patterns in the snow. Frosted dunes show toward the top of the image.
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