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This article refers to the planet Mars. For other uses, see Mars (disambiguation).

Named for the Roman god of war, Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, an average of 141,620,000 miles (227,920,00 km) from the sun. Also referred to as the Red Planet, it likely got its name because of its color, (reddish orange) which for the ancients probably represented blood. The planet gets its color from the iron rich minerals in its soil which makes it rust colored.

Mars is one of the more talked-about planets due to the strong evidence that water once flowed on its surface. Where there's water, there is a strong possibility of life. Scientists still hope to find water in cracks and pores of subsurface rock or in ice beneath the planet's surface.

Mars has a dramatic landscape of canyons and mountains which surpass Earth's in depth and height. It is home to the solar system's tallest mountain and a canyon deeper and longer than the Grand Canyon. The planet's atmosphere is significantly thinner than that on Earth but is still able to create a weather system that leads to dust storms that can cover the entire planet. It is also much colder than Earth with temperatures as low as -195 degrees F (-125 degrees C) at the poles and midday temperatures at the equator approximately 70 degrees F (20 degrees C).

A year on Mars is equivalent to 687 days on Earth and a day lasts 24hrs, 39 minutes and 35 seconds. The planet, like Earth, is tilted on its axis which results in seasons. Due to being smaller than Earth and less dense, gravity on Mars is only 28 percent of that on Earth. Scientists believe its crust is about 30 miles (50 km) thick and composed of volcanic rock.

Mars has two small, irregularly shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos, discovered and named by astronomer Asaph Hall.

Mars in Fiction

• Red Planet
• Mission to Mars

Related

• Martians

External Links

• Nineplanets.org – Mars
• Mars at NASA

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