Scribd
Upload
27 views2 pages

Mars

Mars, known as the 'Red Planet' due to its iron-rich surface, was named after the Roman god of war and has a history of being much wetter and warmer billions of years ago. It has a radius of 2,106 miles, or about half the size of Earth, and orbits the Sun at an average distance of 142 million miles, with a rotation period similar to Earth's day. Mars experiences distinct seasons that vary in length due to its elliptical orbit, with a year lasting 687 Earth days.

Uploaded by

viraniumangi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
27 views2 pages

Mars

Mars, known as the 'Red Planet' due to its iron-rich surface, was named after the Roman god of war and has a history of being much wetter and warmer billions of years ago. It has a radius of 2,106 miles, or about half the size of Earth, and orbits the Sun at an average distance of 142 million miles, with a rotation period similar to Earth's day. Mars experiences distinct seasons that vary in length due to its elliptical orbit, with a year lasting 687 Earth days.

Uploaded by

viraniumangi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet

where we've sent rovers to roam the alien landscape. NASA missions have found lots of
evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of
years ago.

Mars was named by the Romans for their god of war because its reddish color was
reminiscent of blood. The Egyptians called it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one."

Even today, it is frequently called the "Red Planet" because iron minerals in the Martian
dirt oxidize, or rust, causing the surface to look red.

Namesake
Mars was named by the ancient Romans for their god of war because its reddish color
was reminiscent of blood. Other civilizations also named the planet for this attribute – for
example, the Egyptians called it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one." Even today, it is
frequently called the "Red Planet" because iron minerals in the Martian dirt oxidize, or
rust, causing the surface to look red.

Potential for Life


Scientists don't expect to find living things currently thriving on Mars. Instead, they're
looking for signs of life that existed long ago, when Mars was warmer and covered with
water.

Size and Distance


With a radius of 2,106 miles (3,390 kilometers), Mars is about half the size of Earth. If
Earth were the size of a nickel, Mars would be about as big as a raspberry.

From an average distance of 142 million miles (228 million kilometers), Mars is 1.5
astronomical units away from the Sun. One astronomical unit (abbreviated as AU), is
the distance from the Sun to Earth. From this distance, it takes sunlight 13 minutes to
travel from the Sun to Mars.

Orbit and Rotation


As Mars orbits the Sun, it completes one rotation every 24.6 hours, which is very similar
to one day on Earth (23.9 hours). Martian days are called sols – short for "solar day." A
year on Mars lasts 669.6 sols, which is the same as 687 Earth days.

Mars' axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees with respect to the plane of its orbit around the
Sun. This is another similarity with Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees. Like
Earth, Mars has distinct seasons, but they last longer than seasons here on Earth since
Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun (because it's farther away). And while here on Earth
the seasons are evenly spread over the year, lasting 3 months (or one quarter of a
year), on Mars the seasons vary in length because of Mars' elliptical, egg-shaped orbit
around the Sun.

Spring in the northern hemisphere (autumn in the southern) is the longest season at
194 sols. Autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in the southern) is the shortest at
142 days. Northern winter/southern summer is 154 sols, and northern summer/southern
winter is 178 sols.

You might also like