The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured an image of the freezing surface of Mars,
according to a US space agency statement. Winters on Mars can be very cold, with temperatures near the poles dropping to minus 125 degrees Celsius. In turn, a layer of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, can form on the surface of certain areas of the planet. By mid-winter, frost can spread from the poles to the planet's mid-latitudes. , or about 50 degrees latitude, where it begins to melt under the warm rays of the sun. This is roughly equivalent to the latitude of southern Canada on Earth, according to the NASA statement.
Credits: NASA / JPL Caltech
The recent hiRISE photo was taken in the southern hemisphere of Mars, in the middle of winter. The photo captures a crater located near 37 degrees south latitude. The south-facing slope of the crater is sprinkled with a glowing ice of carbon dioxide, which appears blue in the color photo enhanced by the orbiter. The photo revealed dry ice in and around the gullies on the slope, which have been carved out by debris flows that occur during the warmer months.
