Learn interesting tidbits about Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun.
Mars is a fascinating planet that appears as a reddish star to those on Earth. Get some interesting facts about Earth's neighbor.
- Mars is known as the Red Planet. Mars's reddish color comes from the soil. The soil is composed of oxidized iron, similar to rust on Earth. Because of its reddish appearance, it was named for the God of War.
- Mars is home to water. Spacecraft exploring Mars have found evidence of water flowing recently on Mars and have also seen frost on the surface that disappears after being exposed to sunlight. Nearly 99% pure water ice has been discovered under the surface of Mars.
- Mars is home to dust storms and dust devils. Red dust storms can whirl up in the thin martian atmosphere and obscure the surface for weeks at a time. Dust devils have been captured both from overhead by orbiters and on the ground by rovers as they spin across the dusty martian surface.
- Mars's moons are captured asteroids. Mars resides on one side of the asteroid belt with Jupiter on the other. Jupiter is well known for drawing in asteroids due to not just its location but its large size. Mars has also drawn in some nearby asteroids, with two that now orbit the planet and serve as small, potato-shaped moons. The two moons are Phobos, which means "fear", and Deimos, which means "panic".
- Mars is home to the solar system's largest mountain. Olympus Mons rises more than 15 miles above the plain of Mars. It is a shield volcano that may not be quite extinct. The mountain is part of a region on Mars known as the Tharsis bulge, where other volcanoes reside.
- Mars is also home to the largest known canyon in the solar system. Valles Marineris is a gash in the martian surface that extends for 2,500 miles and in places is more than four miles deep. The canyon is found east of Olympus Mons and the Tharsis bulge close to Mars's equator. Valles Marineris is believed to have formed through tectonic forces.
- The composition of Mars's and Venus's atmosphere are very similar. Both planets have approximately 95% carbon dioxide and 3% nitrogen with trace other amounts. But the atmospheric environments are quite different. Venus's atmosphere is very thick and Mars's is very thin. Venus has a runaway greenhouse effect with temperatures around 867 degrees Fahrenheit. Mars's thin atmosphere and low density does not create much of a greenhouse effect, and temperatures there range from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to -200 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mars has seasonal polar ice caps. These ice caps are bright white and can migrate from one pole to the other, depending on the season. The ice caps are made of both frozen carbon dioxide and water ice. The white ice caps are one of the easier features to see on Mars through an Earth-based telescope.
- A martian day is almost equal to an Earth day. Earth days are 24 hours long, and martian days last for 24 and a half hours. But while days are nearly equal, a martian year lasts nearly twice as long as an Earth year at 687 Earth days long.
- Mars has often been believed to harbor life. Although we currently have no proof of life on Mars, the planet has a history of being targeted for such claims. It was once believed to have canals, created by martians to move water from wet areas to dry areas. At one time, a meteorite from Mars known as ALH84001 was believed to show evidence of fossilized microbial life, but the sample has since been disproven as contaminated.
Learn more about Mars.
Source: NASA
The copyright of the article 10 Facts About Mars in Solar System Astronomy is owned by Kelly Whitt. Permission to republish 10 Facts About Mars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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