Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Possessing this characteristic bloody color, the red planet was named in this way by the ancient Greeks due to its god of war . The Romans copied the ancient Greeks, who also named the planet after their god of war, Ares . Other civilizations also tend to name the planet based on its color; for example, the Egyptians called it ” Her Desher, “ which means “the red one,” while ancient Chinese astronomers called it ” the fiery star“.

Distance to the sun:  227.9 million kilometers

Mars Features

The main characteristics of Mars are mentioned below:

• Although this desert planet is only half the diameter of Earth, it has the same amount of dry land.
• The red planet is home to the highest mountain and the deepest and longest valley in the solar system .
• It has the largest volcanoes in the solar system, including Olympus Mons .
• It has different types of volcanic landforms , from small steep-sided cones to huge plains covered in hardened lava.
• Some minor eruptions can still occur on the planet.
• Many regions of Mars are flat, low plains .
• The northern hemisphere is primarily at a lower elevation than the southern hemisphere , suggesting that the crust may be thinner in the north than in the south.
• The summers Martians are short and hot, while the winters are long and cold.
• It is part of the 4 telluric or rocky planets of the Solar System,

History

Mars derives its name from the Greek Ares who was the god of war. It got its name due to its red color . The planet has been known since prehistoric times . Tycho Brahe , a 16th century Danish astronomer managed to accurately measure the motion of Mars in the sky. Data on apparent retrograde motion allowed Kepler to discover the elliptical nature of its orbit and to determine the laws of planetary motion known as Kepler’s laws .

Composition

According to NASA, the atmosphere of Mars is made up of 95.32 percent carbon dioxide, 2.7 percent nitrogen , 1.6 percent argon , 0.13 percent oxygen , 0.08 percent carbon monoxide, and small amounts of water. , nitrogen oxide, neon, hydrogen-deuterium-oxygen, krypton and xenon.

Currently, it does not have a global magnetic field , but there are regions of its crust that can be magnetized at least 10 times more than any other measurement on Earth, remnants of an ancient global magnetic field.

Mars probably has a solid core made up of iron , nickel, and sulfur . The mantle of Mars is probably similar to that of Earth, in that it is made up mostly of peridotite , which is made up mostly of silicon , oxygen , iron, and magnesium . The crust is made up of volcanic rock basalt , although some crust rocks, especially in the northern hemisphere, may be a form of andesite , a volcanic rock that contains more silica than does basalt.

Scientists think that, on average, the Martian core measures about 3,000 to 4,000 km, its mantle is 5,400 to 7,200 km wide, and its crust is about 50 km thick.

Mars atmosphere

The atmosphere cool and thin Mars means it is likely that there is no liquid water on the surface of Mars. The atmosphere is very rich in carbon dioxide and is about 100 times less dense than Earth’s on average, yet it is thick enough to withstand weather , clouds, and winds.

The density of the atmosphere varies seasonally, as winter forces carbon dioxide to freeze in Martian air. In the past, its atmosphere was thicker and it was able to support the water that flowed on its surface. Over time, the lightest molecules in Mars’ atmosphere escaped under the pressure of the solar wind , which affected the atmosphere because Mars does not have a global magnetic field .

Satellites

Mars has two natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos . Both satellites are irregular and are believed to have been captured from the nearby asteroid belt. They were discovered by the American astronomer Asaph Hall on August 18, 1877 who gave them the name based on Greek mythology they accompanied the god Mars: fear and terror respectively.

Rotation and translation

The average distance between Mars and the Sun is approximately 230 million kilometers, and its orbital period is 687 Earth days. The solar day of Mars is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds, and a year on Mars is equal to 1.8809 Earth years , or 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.20

Magnetic field

Mars is very different from Earth because it does not have a global magnetic field that is capable of influencing its environment and interacting with the solar wind . The average intensity of the magnetic field on the surface of Mars is less than 5 nT . The Mars Global Surveyor probe showed the presence of highly magnetized regions on the surface of Mars that, since there is no global magnetic field, must be considered as remains of an ancient field on a planetary scale .

Temperature

Mars is a much colder planet than Earth, largely due to its greater distance from the sun. The average temperature is around minus 60 degrees Celsius, although it can range from minus 125 C near the poles during winter to 20 C at noon near the equator .

Life on mars

The existence of life on Mars has not yet been proven, NASA is making great efforts to discover it. The United States and other countries have sent ships since 1960, and with each mission we learn more about the planet. Although it is the most Earth- like planet in the entire solar system, it is different from Earth in many ways.

Colonization

The term refers to a possibility that the human being lives on the planet permanently, many think that it is an important option thinking about the future of humanity this because it has several characteristics similar to the earth. However, due to the enormous differences between them such as gravity , temperature and atmospheric pressure , it is not known for sure if life on the planet would be possible.

Curiosities

• Olympus Mons is approximately 27 kilometers high, three times as high as Mount Everest, while the Valles Marineris system of valleys can reach a depth of 10 km and runs from east to west for approximately 4,000 km.
• The name of the month March derives from Mars.
• It is 90% smaller than the earth.
• The gravity on Mars is 37% compared to what we have on Earth. Therefore, if you jump one meter on our planet, on Mars you would reach three times higher.
• It has many similarities to the earth.