the-star-stuff: Mars Snow Falls Like Dry Ice Fog Tiny crystals no bigger than red blood cells, NASA data suggest. The results suggest that, rather than resembling a blizzard, Mars snow would probably look like fog as it fell. Previous data from NASA’s Phoenix mission revealed snow falling near the red planet’s north pole as the seasons turned from summer to fall. At the time the air was relatively warm, so those ice crystals were most likely made from water, scientists say. But when temperatures drop in winter to -193 degrees Fahrenheit (-125 degrees Celsius), it gets cold enough for carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to freeze, creating clouds of dry ice that can reach from the poles to halfway to the equator. Illustration by Steven Hobbs, Stocktrek Images

the-star-stuff:

Mars Snow Falls Like Dry Ice Fog

Tiny crystals no bigger than red blood cells, NASA data suggest.

The results suggest that, rather than resembling a blizzard, Mars snow would probably look like fog as it fell.

Previous data from NASA’s Phoenix mission revealed snow falling near the red planet’s north pole as the seasons turned from summer to fall. At the time the air was relatively warm, so those ice crystals were most likely made from water, scientists say.

But when temperatures drop in winter to -193 degrees Fahrenheit (-125 degrees Celsius), it gets cold enough for carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere to freeze, creating clouds of dry ice that can reach from the poles to halfway to the equator.

Illustration by Steven Hobbs, Stocktrek Images