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    Mars Is The Fourth Planet From The Sun and The Second Smallest Planet in The Solar System

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    Lak Davis
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is often called the "Red Planet" due to the iron oxide on its surface. It has seasons and polar ice caps like Earth. Mars has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system. It likely had large water coverage in the past, and water ice remains at the poles and subsurface today. Multiple spacecraft are currently orbiting and roving Mars to study its atmosphere and search for signs of past or present life.

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    Mars Is The Fourth Planet From The Sun and The Second Smallest Planet in The Solar System

    Uploaded by

    Lak Davis
    404 views3 pages
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is often called the "Red Planet" due to the iron oxide on its surface. It has seasons and polar ice caps like Earth. Mars has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system. It likely had large water coverage in the past, and water ice remains at the poles and subsurface today. Multiple spacecraft are currently orbiting and roving Mars to study its atmosphere and search for signs of past or present life.

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    Mars is the Fourth Planet From the Sun and the Second Smallest Planet in the Solar System

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    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is often called the "Red Planet" due to the iron oxide on its surface. It has seasons and polar ice caps like Earth. Mars has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system. It likely had large water coverage in the past, and water ice remains at the poles and subsurface today. Multiple spacecraft are currently orbiting and roving Mars to study its atmosphere and search for signs of past or present life.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    404 views3 pages

    Mars Is The Fourth Planet From The Sun and The Second Smallest Planet in The Solar System

    Uploaded by

    Lak Davis
    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is often called the "Red Planet" due to the iron oxide on its surface. It has seasons and polar ice caps like Earth. Mars has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system. It likely had large water coverage in the past, and water ice remains at the poles and subsurface today. Multiple spacecraft are currently orbiting and roving Mars to study its atmosphere and search for signs of past or present life.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    At a glance
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    Some key takeaways are that Mars has seasons and polar ice caps similar to Earth and was likely habitable in the past with evidence of water.

    Mars has volcanoes, valleys, impact craters and a thin atmosphere. It also has the largest volcano and canyon in the solar system.

    There is geological evidence and radar data showing large quantities of water ice at the poles and mid-latitudes of Mars. The rovers also found chemical compounds containing water molecules.

    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the

    Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war, it is often
    referred to as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface
    gives it a reddish appearance.[16] Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin
    atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of
    the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The
    rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of
    Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus
    Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar
    System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System.
    The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the
    planet and may be a giant impact feature.[17][18] Mars has two moons,
    Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be
    captured asteroids,[19][20] similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan.
    Until the first successful Mars flyby in 1965 by Mariner 4, many speculated
    about the presence of liquid water on the planet's surface. This was based on
    observed periodic variations in light and dark patches, particularly in the polar
    latitudes, which appeared to be seas and continents; long, dark striations were
    interpreted by some as irrigation channels for liquid water. These straight line
    features were later explained as optical illusions, though geological evidence
    gathered by unmanned missions suggests that Mars once had large-scale
    water coverage on its surface at some earlier stage of its life.[21] In 2005,
    radar data revealed the presence of large quantities of water ice at the
    poles[22] and at mid-latitudes.[23][24] The Mars rover Spirit sampled chemical
    compounds containing water molecules in March 2007. The Phoenix lander
    directly sampled water ice in shallow Martian soil on July 31, 2008.[25]
    Mars is host to seven functioning spacecraft: five in orbit2001 Mars Odyssey,
    Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN and Mars Orbiter Mission
    and two on the surfaceMars Exploration Rover Opportunity and the Mars
    Science Laboratory Curiosity. Observations by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
    have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars.[26]
    In 2013, NASA's Curiosity rover discovered that Mars's soil contains between
    1.5% and 3% water by mass (albeit attached to other compounds and thus not
    freely accessible).[27]
    There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of
    Mars, as well as the possibility of extant life. In situ investigations have been
    performed by the Viking landers, Spirit and Opportunity rovers, Phoenix lander,
    and Curiosity rover. Future astrobiology missions are planned, including the
    Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers.[28][29][30][31]
    Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish
    coloring. Its apparent magnitude reaches 2.91,[7] which is surpassed only by
    Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. Optical ground-based telescopes are
    typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometers (190 mi) across
    when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth's atmosphere.[32]

    Contents [hide]
    1 Physical characteristics
    1.1 Internal structure
    1.2 Surface geology
    1.3 Soil
    1.4 Hydrology
    1.4.1 Polar caps
    1.5 Geography and naming of surface features
    1.5.1 Map of quadrangles
    1.5.2 Impact topography
    1.5.3 Volcanoes
    1.5.4 Tectonic sites
    1.5.5 Holes
    1.6 Atmosphere
    1.6.1 Aurora
    1.7 Climate
    2 Orbit and rotation
    3 Search for life
    4 Habitability
    5 Exploration
    5.1 Future
    6 Astronomy on Mars
    7 Viewing
    7.1 Closest approaches
    7.1.1 Relative
    7.1.2 Absolute, around the present time
    8 Historical observations
    8.1 Ancient and medieval observations
    8.2 Martian "canals"
    8.3 Spacecraft visitation

    9 In culture
    9.1 Intelligent "Martians"
    10 Moons
    11 Far future
    12 Gallery
    13 See also
    14 Notes
    15 References
    16 External links

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