No "Silent Night" On Mars, Due To Dry Ice

The north and south poles of Mars get no sun during the winter months, so the temperature drops to minus 198 degrees F. The Martian atmosphere is rich in carbon dioxide. Scientists theorized for years that the thin atmosphere would not produce storms at the poles. Recently, scientists from NASA, Oregon State University, and Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, observed enough energy release over the Martian South Pole to cause tempests of 30-miles-per-hour downdrafts and spiraling winds driving what are theorized to be salt-sized grains of dry ice.

In 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor reported "unexpectedly dense bodies" in the lower Martian atmosphere. Scientists think that these are dry ice crystals that produce sound from the carbon dioxide freezing and cracking. The thunderstorm-like sounds have been produced in research models of the Martian atmosphere, but have not been actually heard by a spacecraft on Mars. It seems there may be no wintertime "silent night" on Mars.

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