An ice cap-puccino Aug 13, 2019

An ice cap-puccino

No, that"s not a new frozen coffee drink from Starbucks; it"s the southern polar ice cap on Mars. Mars is the only other planet in the solar system with visible ice caps, though they differ from Earth’s because the ice caps on Mars consist of both water ice and frozen carbon dioxide. The ice cap looks smooth here, but its surface is pockmarked with swiss-cheese-like depressions caused by the seasonal freezing and melting of the Martian winters and summers. While Mars has been observed by humanity for thousands of years, it was only on August 13, 1672, that Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens observed the ice cap using the most powerful telescope of the day. The giant of science designed the 50x magnification telescope himself, and with his brother, produced the lenses as well.

© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Bill Dunford

palette

Today in History

Aug 13, 2018Look to the north sky tonight for the Perseids
Aug 13, 2020Life in the slow lane
Aug 13, 2021Fight for your lefts
Aug 13, 2022Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness
Aug 13, 2023Perseid meteor shower over Oregon
Aug 13, 2024Telašćica Nature Park, Dugi Otok, Croatia
Aug 13, 2025Corona Arch near Moab, Utah

More Desktop Wallpapers:

May 26, 2023Wat Sri Sawai in Sukhothai Historical Park, Thailand
May 9, 2019An endless journey
Dec 21, 2018Paper lanterns on the longest night
Oct 22, 2025The Belogradchik Rocks in Bulgaria
Aug 13, 2024Telašćica Nature Park, Dugi Otok, Croatia
Feb 2, 2024Groundhog Day
Jul 23, 2021Let the games (finally) begin!
Mar 19, 2021Life carries on, rising from a ship s skeleton
Apr 26, 2022Landscape Architecture Month
Apr 23, 2021A house of grand scale(s)
Mar 22, 2020Celebrating World Water Day
Apr 28, 2025Impala in Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana
Dec 28, 2022Maloja, Switzerland
May 3, 2025Happy International Astronomy Day!
Feb 12, 2019To Roswell, and beyond!
Mar 20, 2020Heron lies the Salton Sea
Apr 26, 2021Cheese! We ll go somewhere where there s cheese!
Feb 14, 2020Two rocks and a heart spot
Aug 14, 2018Combating extinction with citizen science
May 6, 2018A wetland in Västmanland, Sweden
Feb 23, 2024Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia
Oct 13, 2024Royal Alcázar of Seville, Spain
Oct 20, 2019Meet the slowest flirt in the animal world
Sep 15, 2025Dallas Latino Cultural Center for Hispanic Heritage
Mar 2, 2025Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, Australia
May 24, 2018East River crossing
May 25, 2021An improbable tribute for Towel Day
Mar 23, 2019What happened to these clouds?
Aug 4, 2025Great gray owls in their nest, Finland
Apr 14, 2021Nothing plain about it