The Coldest, Snowiest, Iciest Places In Our Solar System

As you battle the blizzard, just be happy you don't live on Pluto

By Loren Grush

Published

For hardcore skiers in need of new terrain to conquer, Saturn's sixth largest moon, Enceladus, may be the ideal place for hitting the interplanetary slopes. Covered in miles of ice, Enceladus is home to numerous geysers, which jettison ice particles into the air above the moon's surface. The result is something like snowfall as the ice particles fall back to the ground, coating Enceladus in extremely fine ice crystals. Paul Schenk of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston notes the "snow" would make for great skiing conditions! The only problem? There's just not enough of it built up on the surface yet. Give it a couple tens of millions of years or so, and the slopes will be piled high. Temperature: -330 degrees Fahrenheit Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/LPGNantes
NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute
NASA/JPL/Universities Space Research Association/Lunar & Planetary Institute
NASA/JPL
NASA
NASA/Sean Smith
 
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Loren Grush

Loren Grush is a Popular Science assistant editor and science writer who lives in New York City. She's written for The New York Times, Nautilus Magazine, Digital Trends, Fox News, and ABC News. Grush is the daughter of two NASA engineers and grew up surrounded by space shuttles and rocket scientists. She's thrilled to have come full circle, reporting on scientific discovery and technological breakthroughs.