The planets in our solar system go through seasons due to the tilt of their orbits, so one hemisphere faces the Sun more than the other at certain times of the year.

However, another factor affecting the weather and conditions of certain planets is their position in their orbits around the Sun, which is a completely different matter. Doesn’t matter.

But Mars’ orbit is more elliptical than Earth’s, meaning conditions change as the planet approaches the Sun.

This effect is evident in two images of Mars recently released by NASA, which show the planet at its closest and farthest points from the Sun.

These images, taken over six months in July 2022 and January 2023, respectively, by the Mars rover and the Mars Atmosphere Evolutionary, a DigitalLands report, show how the planet’s environment changes with the seasons and seasons. The planet’s orbit changes.

This first image was taken during summer in the planet’s southern hemisphere, when Mars was closest to the Sun.

This image was taken using an ultraviolet spectrophotometer (IUVS) operating at ultraviolet wavelengths. To create an image, the instrument values ​​must be converted to the visible light range.

This helps identify key features in the image, such as the purple appearance of atmospheric ozone, which is why the planet’s surface appears green in some places, even though the planet is actually photographed in red or orange visible wavelengths.

At the bottom of the planet, you’ll find the Antarctic ice sheet, which has shrunk in relatively warm summers.

This second image, showing Mars’ northern hemisphere, was taken when the planet was farthest from the Sun. A bright purple ozone cap can be seen across the North Pole.

This ozone is formed during the winter months when sunlight breaks down carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and come spring, the ozone reacts with water vapor and is lost.

MAVEN is used to study Mars’ atmosphere and climate, and has already studied how the polar ice absorbs water vapor in the summer and is affected by the large dust storms that periodically blow across the planet.