ESA’s ExoMars mission have spotted water frost for the first time near Mars’s equator. More specifically, the frost sits atop the Tharsis volcanoes, which are the tallest volcanoes not only on Mars, but in the Solar System.
Scientists believe the patches of frost exist for a few hours around sunrise before they evaporate in sunlight. Despite being just a thin layer, they cover a vast area. To put things into perspective, the amount of frost represents about 150,000 tonnes of water swapping between surface and atmosphere each day during the cold seasons, or approximately 60 Olympic swimming pools.
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We thought it was impossible for frost to form around Mars’s equator, as the mix of sunshine and thin atmosphere keeps temperatures relatively high at both surface and mountaintop – unlike what we see on Earth, where you might expect to see frosty peak. We happened to be looking for it near the equator for some other research, but didn’t expect to see it on Mars’s volcano tops!,” said Adomas Valantinas, Lead Author who made the discovery as a PhD student at University of Bern, Switzerland.
