Water ice in crater at Martian north pole

We found water on Mars:

The crater is 35 kilometres wide and has a maximum depth of approximately 2 kilometres beneath the crater rim. The circular patch of bright material located at the centre of the crater is residual water ice.

This white patch is present all year round, as the temperature and pressure are not high enough to allow sublimation of water ice.

And what could be cooler than this? How’s about a 10th planet?

The object was spotted independently by a group led by Jose-Luis Ortiz of the Sierra Nevada Observatory in Spain. Ortiz’ team announced the finding in astronomy circles recently and the finding, including the claim that it might be twice as big as Pluto, was reported by an online news site today.

Ortiz said that based on his team’s observations, there was one outlying theory could allow 2003 EL61 to be larger than Pluto, but he does not think it is right.

“I do not think it is larger than Pluto,” Ortiz told SPACE.com today.

Neat stuff!

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