A beautiful image of Mars’ north pole captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express probe has been published by the organization.
The snap shows an icy cap sitting on the red planet and signs of strong winds and storms.
Mars’s north pole is covered in layers of ice stacked on top of one another.
These layers change in size and composition throughout the year.
In the summertime, Mars’ north pole is said to be permanently covered by thick layers of mostly water ice.
In the winter, Mars sees temperatures plummet to below -125 degrees Celsius which leads to thicker ice.
Winter on Mars also results in carbon dioxide precipitation and clouds, making it hard to see the polar features clearly from a camera on an orbiting probe.
However, the view from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) is usually very clear.
An image recently released by the ESA shows Mars’ north pole landscape during summer in 2006.
A rippled mix of ice and Mars’ famous red dusty landscape can be seen mixed together.
If you look closely you’ll also see that stormy weather is scattering dust and ice.
The zebra-like stripes of ice and Mars dust visible on the image are thought to have formed due to wind erosion, amongst other processes.
Small local storms are also said to kick up dust into the planet’s atmosphere.
These storms can erode slopes in the landscape and change its appearance over time.
Mars’ poles are of interest to space organizations because they could teach us about how the planet’s climate evolved.
One of the key goals of the Mars Express mission is to learn more about the planet’s atmosphere.
The probe arrived in the Red Planet’s orbit in 2003 and has been sending back impressive and detailed images of Mars for many years.
The ESA published the Mars north pole image on their website to coincide with the Seventh International Conference on Mars Polar Science and Exploration.
The conference is taking place in Argentina this week.
Water on Mars explained
Almost all that water on Mars exists as ice.
However, there is some water vapor in the atmosphere.
The ice is found at the planet’s poles although mostly at the north pole.
NASA has found further evidence of a large amount of ice under Mars’ surface.
It is thought that ice played a big role in Mars’ geological history.