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Martian
Weather
-
Martian temperatures:
-
night 180 K (-93o
C
= -135o F)
-
day 240 K (-33o
C
= -27o F)
-
Thin atmosphere doesn't old
heat in, keep sun out
-
Mars has seasons
-
Why?
-
Martian seasons so severe
part of the atmosphere freezes out!
-
Mars has an elliptical orbit
-
when it's summer in southern
hemisphere, Mars is closer to the Sun
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Summer in the southern hemisphere
should be warmer... right?
-
Actually not! Because
of dust in the wind.
-
More direct and more intense
sunlight stirs up winds
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Wind stirs up dust
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Dust obscures the Sun
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Southern ice cap is bigger
-
Wind-blown dust patterns
may also alter large-scale appearance of the Martian dark spots
-
possible reason for change
of appearance with seasons
-
Large scale student motion
experiment
-
Dust probably causes pink
Martian sky
Viking 2 site in the winter
Southern ice cap
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