I’m recording this show from my COVID hide-out in my basement in the American midwest. This is a part of the country that experiences snow and heat, and spring means that animals I have not seen in months are starting to scurry out, and the pile of snow in the shady spot by our back door has finally melted.

In a lucky alignment of seasons, the northern hemisphere of Mars is also undergoing spring. While they aren’t seeing an emergence of chipmunks, they are seeing the seasonal snow melting, and this transition period from winter to spring is making for some amazing images. The HiRISE camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is doing its best to capture the stunning landscapes.

During the winter, ices settle across the landscape, blanketing everything with white. According to Susan Conway, a HiRISE team member: Bright patches of frost (white in enhanced color) are clearly visible and are made up of water and carbon dioxide ices. Dark streaks of sand have flowed down the dune’s slope that sometimes covers the frost. These flows are caused by the rapid transformation of the frost from ice to gas as the sun heats the dune in the spring.

This just goes to show: spring brings beauty to every world.

More Information

IMAGE: Defrosting Dunes in Kaiser Crater (HiRISE)

It’s Springtime on Mars, and the Dunes are Defrosting (Universe Today)