White ice peaks through the red Martian surface dirt layer after the Phoenix Mars lander used its robotic arm to dig a trench in the ground. The confirmation of subsurface water ice at the northern reaches of the red planet help scientists better understand the water cycle there. This image was taken on June 13, 2008. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

The shrinking ice cap around Earth’s North Pole may be hedging in on Santa’s territory, but there are plenty of other frigid territories in the solar system where he could set up shop. Here we tour of some of the most shiver-inducing spots in the solar system, where you might be assured a white Christmas.

Mars

If Santa is looking for another snowy spot for his workshop, the northern polar regions of Mars offers an out-of-this-world option. Last year, NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander observed snow falling in Mars’ northern Vastitas Borealis region, where it landed on May 25, 2008 to dig below the surface in search of water ice. Trenches dug by the lander’s robotic arm did indeed expose subsurface ice, shedding more light on the history of water on the red planet. In addition to the slight snowfalls, Phoenix observed frost forming on the Martian surface around it as winter began to set in in the northern hemisphere – the lander is thought to have been covered in ice and frost since NASA lost contact with it in November 2008.


In this artist's concept, the Cassini spacecraft makes a close pass by Saturn's inner moon Enceladus to study plumes from geysers that erupt from giant fissures in the moon's southern polar region. Credit: Karl Kofoed

Titan

Lakes of liquid methane and ethane are thought to dot the landscape of this Saturnian moon, in an environment more frigid than Antarctica. But despite its overall colder state, the wind, rains and tectonic processes on Titan make it one of the closest Earth analogs in the solar system, scientists say. While the satellite’s average surface temperature of minus 292 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 180 Celsius) keeps water frozen solid, liquid methane and ethane exist and could provide a haven for life.

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