18 days ago
The Atlantic
Just like Earth, Mars has seasons, and during the winter—about twice as long as ours—icy crystals cascade from the clouds and accumulate on the frigid surface. But Mars gets around that little technicality by substituting intricate, six-sided water snow for something else. Carbon-dioxide snow is just one of Mars’s many curiosities. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for more than 15 years, has captured carbon-dioxide snow reaching the surface, though. “Since most of the snow on Mars falls in the darkness of polar night, we need to use wavelengths of radiation outside of the visible spectrum,” Hayne said.)
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