Overview
Mars, the “Red Planet”, is the planet which we know the most about, besides Earth that is. Named for the Roman god of war, this small planet has fascinated astronomers and the American population alike.
Classification
Like Earth, Venus and Mercury, Mars is a terrestrial planet found in the inner solar system. This is the area between the Sun and the asteroid belt. All terrestrial planets contain a rocky core and solid surface.
Size
Mars is half the size of Earth with a radius of 2,106 miles. That’s twice the size of our moon.
Rotation
The days on Mars are 24.6 hours, and very close to one Earth day. One Martian year is 687 Earth days or 669.6 days on Mars. Therefore, Mars rotates around the Sun very slowly.
Position
Mars is tilted 25 degrees, which is also like Earth. Because of this tilt Mars has seasons. But unlike Earth, they last much longer. Mars has an egg shaped orbit around the Sun, not a perfect sphere like Venus. Mar’s orbit is elongated, more so than any other planet. This means that Mars’ southern hemisphere has a short but hot summer. At this time the northern hemisphere has a short and cold winter. At its farthest from the sun, the northern hemisphere has a long but mild summer and the southern hemisphere has a long and cold winter.
Sunlight takes 13 minutes to travel to Mars. It is an average of 228 million miles away from the Sun, which is 50% farther than Earth.
Unlike Earth, Mars has an unstable axis swing, because it is not stabilized by a large moon.
Structure
Like the other inner planets, Mars has a core. It is made of iron, nickel and sulfur and is 930 to 1,300 miles in radius.
Mars’ mantel is not molten, but rocky and between 770 and 1170 miles thick.
The crust is made of iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium and potassium. It varies from 6 to 30 miles deep. The iron oxidation/ rust gives Mars a red look, but it is also brown, gold and tan. The surface of Mars is a dusty, red wasteland that is about as big as the dry land on Earth. This is how Mars gets the nickname the “Red Planet”. It is covered in volcanoes, craters and dust storm damage. Valles Marineris is a California to New York long canyon system, measuring 200 miles at the widest point and 4.3 miles at the deepest point. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the entire solar system. It is considered a shield volcano, which is a very long and wide volcano that doesn’t get very tall, much like those in Hawaii. Its base is about the size of New Mexico, with its height being 3 time that of Mt. Everest.
The temperature of Mars is as high as 70 degrees F and as low as -225 degrees. At the equator at noon it would be 75 F at your feet and 32 F at your head.
Mars has only 0.38% of Earth’s gravity. This is the same as Mercury’s gravity.
Atmosphere
Mars has a thin atmosphere made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon. The sky is a hazy red because of dust.
When dust storms kick up on Mars, they are the largest in the solar system. These storms can cover the entire planet for months.
When it snows on Mars, the snowflakes are made of carbon dioxide. It doesn’t look like snow, just fog. This snow even caps the north and south pole.
Mars is the 7th planet mass wise. Our moon has more mass than Mars.Moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both are small and potato-shaped. Phobos in ancient Greek means “Fight” and Deimos means “Fear”. Phobos is the larger of the two and orbers close to Mars. It is covered in craters. Deimos is half the size of Phobos and covered in loose dirt that fills its craters. Phobos is 17 miles across at its widest, with Deimos about 9 miles.
Fun Facts
Water exists on Mars, but because of its thin atmosphere liquid water doesn’t exist on the surface. Water-ice can be found in the polar regions underneath the surface. Salt water flows down crater walls and hillsides in some regions.