By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas–on Mars Alternating layers of ice and dust are clearly seen, a defining characteristic of the seasonal martian ice caps. Hundreds of tightly packed dark fan-shaped features are visible, tracing out the boundaries between the layered deposits. These features result from jets of gas laden with dust bursting through the icy surface from below, the dust settling in an orientation indicative of the direction of the prevailing wind. CREDIT: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin. Björn Schreiner 2024 @ FU Berlin The Red Planet sometimes has some tinges of white. Images taken by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express show how swirls of carbon dioxide ice and dust layers can make the planet appear like it has a light dusting of snow. The images were taken in the Australe Scopuli region of Mars’ southern hemisphere “The contrasting light and dark layers are particularly striking in the exposed faces of hills and valleys,” the ESA wrote in a press release. “They trace out the distinctive seasonal polar layered deposits characteristic of this region, formed as layers of ice freeze with varying amounts of dust trapped within.” The mixture of smooth and steep slopes and tight bends almost makes the scene look like a Martian ski resort. Extremely warm clothing would be essential here, where temperatures are a brisk -193°F (-125°C). Deck the halls with–a cosmic wreath Alternating layers of ice and dust are clearly seen, a defining characteristic of the seasonal martian ice caps. Hundreds of tightly packed dark fan-shaped features are visible, tracing out the boundaries between the layered deposits. These features result from jets of gas laden with dust bursting through the icy surface from below, the dust settling in an orientation indicative of the direction of the prevailing wind. CREDIT: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin. ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, P. Zeidler On December 18, NASA released a new image of star cluster NGC 602 and shows what looks like a festive wrath with twinkling lights. The image combines data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory with a previously released image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST data provide the ring-like outline of the cosmic “wreath.” The X-rays from Chandra (in red) show young, massive stars illuminating the wreath and sending high-energy light into interstellar space. NGC 602 is about 200,000 light-years from Earth. It lies on the outskirts of the Small Magellanic Cloud, one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way. Christmas in–space Another day, another sleigh ⛄️❄️@NASA_Astronauts Don Pettit and Suni Williams pose for a fun holiday season portrait while speaking on a ham radio inside the @Space_Station's Columbus laboratory module. pic.twitter.com/C1PtjkUk7P