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> Mars South pole

Mars South pole

author: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Novapix

reference: a-mar09-00166

Image Size 300 DPI: 21 * 53 cm

The bright white region of this image shows the icy cap that covers Mars’ south pole, composed of frozen water and carbon dioxide. The southern cap reaches some 3 km thick in places, and is around 350 km in diameter. This icy region is permanent; in the martian winter another, thinner ice cap forms over the top of it, stretching further out across the planet and disappearing again when the weather warms up. Mars Express imaged this area of Mars on 17 December 2012, in infrared, green and blue light, using its High Resolution Stereo Camera.

Keywords for this photo:

2012 - ASTRONOMY - ICE - MARS - MARS EXPRESS - PANORAMA - PLANET - POLE - POSTER - SOUTH POLE -