Mars' Mysterious South Pole Revealed in New Photo

The swirling white dot toward the bottom of the photo, which was taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, is the Red Planet’s south polar ice cap. In 2004, Mars Express confirmed that the south polar cap contains water ice, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). While the image was released last month, Mars Express captured it on Feb. 25, during summer in Mars' southern hemisphere.