The European orbiter captured a frozen landscape on the Red Planet.
The intricate patterns and swirls of this martian landscape are caused by springtime thawing. Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin
Although these frosty fields look like a picturesque winter wonderland blanketed in snow, this ice is actually composed of frozen carbon dioxide over the southern Australe Scopuli region of Mars. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express spotted this scene using its High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) during its 23,324th orbit of the Red Planet.
This image taken in June 2022 shows the land slowly acclimating to the martian summertime — although the temperature is still –193 degrees Fahrenheit (–125 degrees Celsius). As the weather begins to warm, so does the ice. On the left side of the image, the darker areas show where the ice has sublimated, or turned from ice into vapor.
The swirling patterns throughout the region are created when the Sun’s radiation warms the dark areas underneath the ice before the ice melts. This sublimated gas eventually escapes and flings dust particles around. The martian winds carry this dust for tens to hundreds of feet, forming various shapes on the ground.
Similar reactions on the martian surface that can form surface features in the shapes of spiders, fried eggs, lace, and halos.Â
Mars is currently experiencing another springtime which began in November and will continue until the end of May 2025.
