Mars

Planet Mars

The human being has always had special attention for a planet in our solar system. That planet is Mars. It is called the red planet for its color. It was one of the first planets to be observed through the telescope and from the middle of the XNUMXth century it began to speculate about the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. Many scientists described the existence of channels designed to transport water supposedly useful for a civilization.

Mars is one of the most researched planets and about which there is more information. Do you want to learn everything about the planet Mars? In this post we are going to analyze it completely. Keep reading and you will discover everything 🙂

Characteristics of Mars

Life on the planet Mars

Mars belongs to the four rocky planets of the solar system. Its resemblance to our planet has greatly influenced the belief of possible Martian life. The surface of the planet has various permanent formations and polar caps that are not actually made of true ice. It is made up of a layer of frost that is probably made of dry ice.

It is one of the smallest planets in our solar system and has two satellites: Phobos and Deimos. There was an expedition to Mars by the spacecraft Marine 4. In it, light and dark spots were observed, so the scientists speculated the presence of water on the surface. At present it is thought that there were great floods on the planet about 3,5 million years ago. Just a few years ago, in 2015, NASA confirmed the evidence for the existence of liquid salty water.

Formation of the moons of Mars

Solo the planet mercury it is smaller than Mars. Due to the inclination of the axis of rotation, it experiences seasons just like the Earth and that vary in duration due to its elliptical orbit. Both satellites were discovered in 1877 and have no rings.

Its translation orbit around the Sun takes 687 equivalent days on earth. Its sidereal rotation period is 1.026 Earth days or 24.623 hours, just slightly longer than Earth's rotation period. Thus, a Martian day is about half an hour longer than an Earth day.

Geological structure

Geological structure

The diameter is of 6792 km, its mass of 6.4169 x 1023 kg and the density of 3.934 g / cm3. It occupies a volume of 1.63116 X 1011 km3. It is a rocky planet like the rest of the telluric planets. The terrestrial surface presents marks of impacts against other celestial bodies. Volcanism and the movements of its earth's crust are phenomena linked to its atmosphere (like dust storms). All these phenomena have been altering and modifying the surface.

The nickname of the red planet has a fairly simple explanation. The soil of Mars has large amounts of iron minerals that oxidize and give a reddish coloration that is noticeably distinguished from Earth. The sharp spots on Mars have greatly facilitated the observation and calculation of the orbiting periods.

Atmosphere of mars

Its tectonics has a vertical position. There are polar ice caps, volcanoes, valleys and deserts. In addition, evidence has been found of the strong erosion suffered by the craters filled with the dust transported by storms. They are deformed by expansion and contraction caused by strong temperature changes. It is home to Mount Olympus, the largest volcano on a planet in the Solar System, as well as Valles Marineris, one of the largest and most spectacular canyons that man has seen, with a length equivalent to the distance between New York and Los Angeles (United States).

The atmosphere of Mars

Fun facts

On the other hand, we are going to thoroughly examine the atmosphere. We find a very fine and subdued atmosphere. It is made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon. For greater accuracy, the atmosphere is composed of 96% CO2, 2% argon, 2% nitrogen and 1% other elements. As you can see, there is no oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars, so life cannot exist as we know it.

The size of Mars is about half that of Earth. The first spacecraft whose mission was successful was called Marine 4 (previously mentioned). To give you an idea of ​​the time it would take to get to Mars from our planet, there is a distance of 229 million kilometers.

Interesting data

Terrain on Mars

Here is a grouping of some interesting facts about this planet and ours:

  • The closest thing to Mars we have on Earth is Antarctica. It is the only amazing place where you can find desert areas with abundant ice.
  • We know that both the red planet and ours have originated from a series of cosmic shocks. Shaped by giant asteroids from billions of years ago. These fragments left over from impacts with Mars have ended up orbiting the entire solar system for millions of years, guided by the gravitational forces of other planets. This is how they ended up here on Earth.
  • There is less gravity on the red planet than on Earth. This data is curious, but quite obvious, since its weight is much less. There is 62% less gravity than on our planet. A person who weighs 100 kg on Earth will weigh 40 kg there.
  • Mars has 4 seasons just like Earth. As it happens here, spring, summer, fall and winter are the four seasons of the red planet. The difference with respect to what we are used to seeing is the duration of each season. In the Northern Hemisphere, Martian spring lasts 7 months and summer 6, but fall and winter vary in small time periods.
  • There has been a climate change on Mars just as there has been on Earth.

As you can see, this planet is one of the most studied by the scientific community for the belief that it could host extraterrestrial life and as a possible exodus planet to migrate to in case our planet reaches the limit. And you, do you think life will be found on the planet Mars?


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