What Are Seasons Like on Other Planets?
Do other planets in our solar system have seasons like we do on Earth? The answer: not really. But many of them do have interesting seasonal changes. Seasons are all about axial tilt, whether the planet in orbit is tilted towards or away from the sun. Some planets, like Mercury, have almost no tilt, so they're stuck in an everyday hellish cycle of hot and cold. The planet with seasons most comparable to ours, unsurprisingly, is Mars, which has a similar axial tilt to Earth. The thin Martian atmosphere means that the temperatures reach extreme highs and lows. However, Martian winters get cold enough to freeze CO2, creating "icecaps" that melt and refreeze through the seasons much like ours.
As you get further out in the solar system, the planets take so long to rotate the sun (and even to complete a day) that the idea of seasons gets a little wacky. But on planets like Neptune, the slow-moving seasons still change the weather, creating the massive storms gas giants are known for. It just takes 40 Earth years or so to happen. Tiny Pluto's elliptical orbit brings it very close to and very far away from the sun, giving it "super seasons" depending on the tilt of the planet. None of these alien seasons sound particularly appealing to us, accustomed as we are to our mild and short Earth seasons. But with all the exoplanets out there, it's not impossible that one day we'll discover a planet with pleasant seasons like the ones we enjoy here.
Source: It's Okay To Be Smart
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