Image 1: July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season (IMAGE)

NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Image 1: July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season

Caption

The first image was taken in July 2022 during the southern hemisphere’s summer season, which occurs when Mars passes closet to the Sun. The summer season is caused by the tilt of the planet’s rotational axis, similar to seasons on Earth. Argyre Basin, one of Mars’ deepest craters, appears at bottom left filled with atmospheric haze (depicted here as pale pink). The deep canyons of Valles Marineris appear at top left filled with clouds (colored tan in this image). The southern polar ice cap is visible at bottom in white, shrinking from the relative warmth of summer. Southern summer warming and dust storms drive water vapor to very high altitudes, explaining MAVEN’s discovery of enhanced hydrogen loss from Mars at this time of year.

Credit

Credits: NASA/LASP/CU Boulder

Usage Restrictions

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License

Public Domain

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