In short, the distance between Mars and the Sun ranges during the course of a Martian year from ,, km This means that a year on Mars is equivalent to 1. Adjusted for Martian days aka. Mars in also the midst of a long-term increase in eccentricity. Roughly 19, years ago, it reached a minimum of 0. In addition, the orbit was nearly circular about 1. Much like Earth, Mars also has a significantly tilted axis. In fact, with an inclination of This means that like Earth, Mars also experiences seasonal variations in terms of temperature.
O n average, the surface temperature of Mars is much colder than what we experience here on Earth, but the variation is largely the same. This means that at certain times of the year, Mars is actually warmer than certain parts of Earth. Summer is second longest, lasting six months, while Fall and Winter last 5.
In the south, the length of the seasons is only slightly different. Mars is near perihelion when it is summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the north, and near aphelion when it is winter in the southern hemisphere and summer in the north. As a result, the seasons in the southern hemisphere are more extreme and the seasons in the northern are milder.
It has been a favorite object of skywatchers for centuries and of space explorers for decades. The distance to Mars depends on when you measure it, and which vantage points you're considering.
Just how far away is the Red Planet? The distance to Mars from Earth is constantly changing. Like a pair of cars on a racetrack, Mars and Earth orbit the sun at different speeds. Earth has an inside lane and moves around the sun more quickly. Plus, both have elliptical orbits, rather than perfect circles. In theory, the closest the planets could come together would be when Mars is at its closest point to the sun perihelion and Earth is at its farthest point aphelion.
In that situation, the planets would be But that has never happened in recorded history. Deimos is about half as big as Phobos and orbits two and a half times farther away from Mars.
Oddly-shaped Deimos is covered in loose dirt that often fills the craters on its surface, making it appear smoother than pockmarked Phobos. Mars has no rings. However, in 50 million years when Phobos crashes into Mars or breaks apart, it could create a dusty ring around the Red Planet. When the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.
Mars is about half the size of Earth, and like its fellow terrestrial planets, it has a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust. Mars has a dense core at its center between and 1, miles 1, to 2, kilometers in radius.
It's made of iron, nickel, and sulfur. Surrounding the core is a rocky mantle between and 1, miles 1, to 1, kilometers thick, and above that, a crust made of iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, and potassium. This crust is between 6 and 30 miles 10 to 50 kilometers deep. The Red Planet is actually many colors.
At the surface, we see colors such as brown, gold, and tan. This dust gets kicked up into the atmosphere and from a distance makes the planet appear mostly red. Its volcanoes, impact craters, crustal movement, and atmospheric conditions such as dust storms have altered the landscape of Mars over many years, creating some of the solar system's most interesting topographical features.
A large canyon system called Valles Marineris is long enough to stretch from California to New York — more than 3, miles 4, kilometers. This Martian canyon is miles kilometers at its widest and 4.
That's about 10 times the size of Earth's Grand Canyon. Mars is home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. It's three times taller than Earth's Mt. Everest with a base the size of the state of New Mexico. Mars appears to have had a watery past, with ancient river valley networks, deltas, and lakebeds, as well as rocks and minerals on the surface that could only have formed in liquid water.
Some features suggest that Mars experienced huge floods about 3. There is water on Mars today, but the Martian atmosphere is too thin for liquid water to exist for long on the surface. Today, water on Mars is found in the form of water-ice just under the surface in the polar regions as well as in briny salty water, which seasonally flows down some hillsides and crater walls.
Mars has a thin atmosphere made up mostly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon gases. To our eyes, the sky would be hazy and red because of suspended dust instead of the familiar blue tint we see on Earth. Mars' sparse atmosphere doesn't offer much protection from impacts by such objects as meteorites, asteroids, and comets. The temperature on Mars can be as high as 70 degrees Fahrenheit 20 degrees Celsius or as low as about degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius.
And because the atmosphere is so thin, heat from the Sun easily escapes this planet.
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