NASA Phoenix Update – Martian Ice!

You may recall that, not long after landing, NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander found a white material not far under the dust and soil. It wasn’t entirely expected to find ice that quickly and that close to the surface, but this new animated image has proven to be quite revealing:

The white material sublimated (changed from solid to gas). This means it can’t be salt and pretty much must be ice. Well done to whoever on the team picked this landing site!

This animation is made of images taken by the “Surface Stereo Imager” over the course of four days. They show sublimation of ice in a trench (informally called “Dodo-Goldilocks”) made by the probe’s soil scoop. In the bottom-left corner, lumps of material disappear, similar to the process of evaporation.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/news/phoenix-20080619.html

20th June Sky Note

Summer officially begins tonight at 23:59 p.m. GMT for the northern hemisphere. The Sun is at its most northerly point along the ecliptic marking the Solstice – when the Sun ascends to its highest latitude on the celestial sphere: 23.5^o. In the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the longest day and shortest night of the year.

Also:

• Mars and Saturn are 10° apart. Look for Mars and Saturn in the west at dusk.
• The Moon rises around midnight. The Moon is to the lower left of Jupiter.
• Pluto is at opposition in the constellation of Sagittarius, although extremely dim at 14th magnitude.