Snow - Extraterrestrial Snow

Extraterrestrial Snow

Very light snow is known to occur at high latitudes on Mars. A "snow" of hydrocarbons is also theorized to occur on Saturn's moon Titan.

While there is little or no water on Venus, there is a phenomenon which is quite similar to snow. The Magellan probe imaged a highly reflective substance at the tops of Venus's highest mountain peaks which bore a strong resemblance to terrestrial snow. This substance arguably formed from a similar process to snow, albeit at a far higher temperature. Too volatile to condense on the surface, it rose in gas form to cooler higher elevations, where it then fell as precipitation. The identity of this substance is not known with certainty, but speculation has ranged from elemental tellurium to lead sulfide (galena).

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Famous quotes containing the word snow:

    Snow, snow over the whole land
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    The candle burned on the table,
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    Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)