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   AkaSci 🛰️ (akasci@fosstodon.org)'s status on Monday, 18-Nov-2024 00:18:44 JST AkaSci 🛰️

   Spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere of Mars 🌻
   The pic below was taken by rover Perseverance on Nov 12, the first day of spring.

   Mars's axial tilt causes seasons similar to earth.
   A year on Mars is 687 Earth days long.
   Seasons are not of equal length on Mars due to its orbital eccentricity.
   The New Year starts on the day of the Spring Equinox.
   Year 1 was designated to start on Apr 11, 1955.
   This will be year 38.

   https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/multimedia/raw-images/NLF_1326_0784665048_849ECM_N0620000NCAM00501_01_295J
   https://www.planetary.org/articles/mars-calendar
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   • Glyn Moody repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     AkaSci 🛰️ (akasci@fosstodon.org)'s status on Monday, 18-Nov-2024 00:18:44 JST AkaSci 🛰️

     in reply to

     Each spring, jets of CO2 gas erupt from the Martian polar ice caps, carrying dark sand and dust high aloft, which fall back to the surface creating dark patches.

     Over winter, a layer of frozen CO2 forms over the permanent ice caps, with dust and sand trapped underneath. Spring sunlight warms and sublimates the ice near the dust layer, creating pockets of pressurized gas, which erupt thru weak spots in the layer.
     The artist's impression below imagines the scene.
     https://themis.asu.edu/news/gas-jets-spawn-dark-spiders-and-spots-mars-icecap
     #Mars
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