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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. The surface of Mars is orange-red because it is covered in iron (III) oxide dust, giving it the nickname " the Red Planet ". [21] [22] Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth's sky, and its high-contrast albedo features have made it a common subject for telescope viewing.
10. The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habitability potential. [1] [2] Engineering interplanetary journeys is complicated and the exploration ...
Geology of Mars. Generalised geological map of Mars [1] Mars as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geology.
The geological history of Mars follows the physical evolution of Mars as substantiated by observations, indirect and direct measurements, and various inference techniques. Methods dating back to 17th-century techniques developed by Nicholas Steno, including the so-called law of superposition and stratigraphy, used to estimate the geological ...
Mars has an orbit with a semimajor axis of 1.524 astronomical units (228 million km) (12.673 light minutes), and an eccentricity of 0.0934. [1] [2] The planet orbits the Sun in 687 days [3] and travels 9.55 AU in doing so, [4] making the average orbital speed 24 km/s. The eccentricity is greater than that of every other planet except Mercury ...
Climate of Mars. Mars' cloudy sky as seen by Perseverance rover in 2023, sol 738. The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be easily directly observed in detail from the Earth with help from a telescope .
Ares, the god of war, was known to the Romans as Mars . Compared to the Earth 's Moon, the moons Phobos and Deimos are small. Phobos has a diameter of 22.2 km (13.8 mi) and a mass of 1.08 × 10 16 kg, while Deimos measures 12.6 km (7.8 mi) across, with a mass of 1.5 × 10 15 kg. Phobos orbits closer to Mars, with a semi-major axis of 9,377 km ...
The elemental composition of Mars is different from Earth's in several significant ways. First, Martian meteorite analysis suggests that the planet's mantle is about twice as rich in iron as the Earth's mantle. [6] [7] The planet's distinctive red color is due to iron oxides on its surface.