Is there more snow on Mars than on Earth? Some astrophysicists at CSIC are talking about this.

On Mars, like on Earth, there are also seasons. This results in snow falling at certain times of the year. Some astrophysicists at CSIC are conducting study of changes in carbon dioxide snow and frost on the surface of the Red Planet.

Why does it snow on Mars?

Mars is one of the planets closest to Earth. Just like it happens on our planet, there are also four changes of seasons in a year. This is due to the tilt of its axis of rotation.

A group of astrophysicists from LAA-CSIC prepared a research paper for Journal of Geophysical Research

in which they explain it In both Martian autumn and winter, polar temperatures can drop to about -125°C.

This implies 95% of the atmosphere of the Red Planet. According to the researchers, when temperatures drop below the freezing point of carbon dioxide, it causes it to be deposited on surfaces in the form of rain, frost or snow.

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These are the measured thicknesses

Astrophysicists say there is more snow falling on Mars than originally thought. To take measurements, they resorted to HiRISE, an instrument aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).released in 2005.

Thanks to the spatial resolution of this device, scientists used variations occurring in the shadows of ice blocks to determine the thickness of snow and frost.

In this sense, they showed that the thickness of snow on Mars increases as it accumulates over the course of a season. This means that its thickness could reach 1.6 meters by the end of winter, “enough to cover a car” according to Haifeng Xiao, one of the researchers. The data contrasts with what scientists themselves suggested at the end of 2021, when the thickness of snow on the Red Planet was 0.36 meters.

Is there more snow on Mars than on Earth?

Despite the popular image of Mars as a dry planet, the reality is that snow falls on the Red Planet. In fact, in some specific places, such as the poles, The snowfall may be even heavier than in the coldest regions of the Earth.

According to CSIC astrophysicists, currently the thickness of accumulated snow on Mars can reach 1.6 meters. Although snow can accumulate up to several meters at the poles of the Red Planet, Snowfalls of several tens of meters in height have been recorded on Earth during the winter season.almost 29 in the case of Mount Baker in the USA, and There are areas in Antarctica where ice thickness can reach up to 5 kilometers.

So no, there is no more snow on Mars than on Earth. This is confirmed by a study published in the journal Science. According to this, The amount of water on Mars is much less than on Earth. which means that there is also much less snow falling, despite the fact that in many cases it remains on the planet longer.