APOD: Exaggerated Moon (2024 Jul 24)

[Chris Peterson]

I don't know about Pluto. All the other moons, though, are tidally locked to their planets, so one side is heated from the planet, and other from the Sun as they rotate/orbit.

Of course, the cold spots on the Moon are created by relatively shallow craters and specifics of the Moon's orientation. If we allow for deeper holes, it's easier never to see the Sun. So it's easy to believe that there are bodies out there with deep sinkholes or old vents that are very, very cold at their bases.

Well, there are caves on Mars (or there appears to be).

A possible cave on Mars. Image credit: NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory / University of Arizona

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If there really are caves on Mars and the caves are deep and never exposed to sunlight near bottom, could they be very cold?

Ann

Mars might still be hot enough in its interior that a hole like this can't get too cold.

Also, the upper parts are heated directly by the Sun, and that heat will radiate to the bottom of the hole. Such indirect heating is significant when we're considering a temperature like 35 K. Even starlight is significant at that temperature (and is probably what keeps the dark craters on the Moon from getting even colder).

[zendae]

But there are caves on the moon. I read about that just days ago. And astronomers are very excited about that. It would not be surprising that the first perennial manned mission might be located near one of them. Pretty safe in a cave, relatively speaking! Our ancestors certainly utilized them; those that could find one...

edit: I found an article. Not the one I saw, but this one is better anyway.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scie ... astronauts