Contains:  Solar system body or event
Mars - The South Polar Cap, MAILLARD

Mars - The South Polar Cap

Acquisition type: Lucky imaging

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Description

During this opposition from Mars, the most spectacular phenomenon to observe was the melting of the southern polar cap. It is this bright white spot that we see in these images. On Mars the summer began on September 2 in the southern hemisphere and the polar cap shrank week after week.

In the summer, there is still a much smaller permanent (or residual) ice cap. The residual ice cap, made up of layers of ice and dust, is several kilometres thick. The layer of dry ice that is added over the winter is no more than one or two metres thick. It is the latter that amateurs have seen sublimate (it turns directly into gas) for several weeks at the Martian South Pole.

It seemed interesting to me to highlight this phenomenon, using these three images, which also present practically the same relief (Syrtis Major in particular).

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Mars - The South Polar Cap, MAILLARD