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> Coolest place on Mars

Coolest place on Mars

author: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona/Novapix

reference: a-mar11-00047

Image Size 300 DPI: 24 * 15 cm

The polar cap is made from carbon dioxide (dry ice), which does not occur naturally on the Earth. The circular pits are holes in this dry ice layer that expand by a few meters each Martian year. New dry ice is constantly being added to this landscape by freezing directly out of the carbon dioxide atmosphere or falling as snow. Freezing out the atmosphere like this limits how cold the surface can get to the frost point at -130 degrees Celsius (-200 F). Nowhere on Mars can ever get any colder this, making this this coolest landscape on Earth and Mars combined.

Keywords for this photo:

2016 - ASTRONOMY - CLIMATE - GEOLOGY - HIRISE - ICE - MARS - MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER - MRO - PLANET - POLE - SOUTH POLE - TEMPERATURE -