NASA’s Martian explorer, MAVEN, captured Earth’s neighboring planet in fascinating detail, revealing the changing seasons on Mars as it orbits around the Sun.
NASA’s MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) explorer has shared new views of Mars in two ultraviolet images taken at different points while orbiting around the Sun. The US space agency says that the images will help scientists gain insight into the Martian atmosphere and view surface features in remarkable ways by viewing the planet in ultraviolet wavelengths.
The first image was taken in July 2022 of Mars’ southern hemisphere during its summer season. Mars takes roughly twice as long to orbit the Sun compared to Earth, so seasons on the red planet last about double the time that they do on Earth.
In this view of Mars, one of the planet’s deepest craters (known as Argyre Basin) appears at the bottom left covered with an atmospheric haze that appears in a pale pink shade. At the top left of the image are the deep canyons of Valles Marineris, while the southern polar ice cap, which was shrinking from the summertime warmth, can be seen at the bottom of the image in white.
The second image is of Mars’ northern hemisphere. It was taken in January 2023 after Mars had passed the farthest point in its orbit from the Sun. In the image, one can see an abundance of white clouds due to the rapidly changing seasons in the north polar region.
