Mars Heavens above!

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and is characterised by its rusty red appearance and two unusual moons. It is the second smallest planet and along with the others; Mercury, Venus and Earth it completes the four innermost planets in the solar system. They are all similarly composed of rocks and metals and have solid surfaces covered in mountains, craters, canyons & volcanoes. Mars is one of the most visited bodies in our solar system and is the only planet surface that has been explored by rovers landing on it and roaming the landscape to discover more about it. The first Mars mission was a flyby in 1965 by Mariner 4. Since then technology has allowed more opportunities to explore. There are currently a number of missions from several countries both on the surface and orbiting in its atmosphere which are sending a huge amount of data back to earth for investigation.

Quick Facts…

Equivalent size (if the Earth was the size of a cherry tomato!) A blueberry

Equator circumference: 21 296.5 km (13 233 miles)

Radius/Diameter: 3 389 km (2 106 miles)/ 6 778.5km (4 212 miles)

Distance from the Sun: 228 000 000 km (142 000 000miles)

Day length: about 24 hrs 30 mins

Year length: 687 Earth days

Temperature: from -140° at the poles to 20° at the equator

Made of: Under the surface of oxidised iron dust and red rocks is a crust made of volcanic basalt rock. This is between 10 -50 km (6-30 miles) thick and unlike earth’s tectonic plates is thought to be in one piece. The surface is distinctively red due to the fine, talcum powder like, iron dust; it could be said that Mars is a rusty planet! The atmosphere is very thin and is mainly carbon dioxide, argon and nitrogen with a small amount of oxygen and water vapour.

Features: Mars has two moons: Phobos and Diemos. These were discovered by an American astronomer called Asaph Hall after much searching within just one week in 1877. Both are made of carbon rich rock mixed with ice and covered in loose rocks and dust. They are miniscule in comparison to our moon and are irregularly shaped. Phobos is about 27km (17 miles) across its widest point while Deimos is about 15km (9 miles) Our moon is 3 475 km (2 159 miles) wide! Both of Mars’ moons are covered with craters from meteor impacts. They, like our moon, always show the same side to Mars. It is thought that they could be captured asteroids drawn into orbit by Mars’ gravitational pull.

Mythology: Mars is named after the Roman god of war as it was thought the red surface was like the colour of blood. Phobos and Diemos are named after the sons of the Greek god of war – Ares. Phobos means ‘fear’ and Diemos ‘rout’

No other planet has had such an impact in popular culture. From theories in the 1800’s that the canal like features on its surface were built by ancient civilisations and subsequent stories such as HG Wells novel ‘The War of the Worlds’ to more recent films such as ‘Total Recall’ only time and further exploration may give us the answer to the question asked by David Bowie in the 1970’s ‘…is there life on Mars?’

Join me next month for the next planet on our journey through space and a look at the first of the gas giants.

By Pam Waggott

References: www.nasa.gov, www.funkidslive.com www.space.com, www.universetoday.com www.spacequotations.com

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