Mars, the planet with seasons
Mars is a planet with seasons similar to earth. Mars is the fourth planet of the solar system. It is one of the closest planets of the earth(after Venus only). It is also called Red Planet. It is half the size of Earth.
It has ice caps, Canyons, extinct volcanoes, a thin atmosphere, and seasons like earth.
SIMILARITIES OF MARS WITH EARTH
Mars has different seasons. Because its axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees on its orbit of revolution.
It rotates in 24.6 hours on its Axis which is 25 degrees tilted on its orbit of rotation, a similarity to earth, which has a rotation period of 23.9 hours and an axis tilt of 23.5 degrees(1).
Its day length(24.6) is similar to the day of the earth(23.9h).
It revolves around Sun in 667 earth’s day. Double the revolution period of the earth.
Due to its tilt, Mars show change in a season similar to earth. But the Seasons of Mars lasts longer than earth because its Revolution period is almost double of revolution period of the earth.
The seasons on earth last in three months but it takes longer on Mars.
Summer temperature 17 degrees Celsius, winter temperature -140 degrees Celsius on Mars.
This is a cold planet with extinct volcanos, which shows that it was once an active planet.
Mars is in the apposition of the earth after every 26 months. At this time Mars is closest to the earth. Mars, Sun, and Earth are in a straight line.
Two moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos they have too small mass and gravity that they are not even spherical in shape.
Phobos is slowly moving toward Mars and it will collide with the planet in 50 million years(1).
Deimos is even smaller than Phobos. It is loosely covered with dirt and thus has a smooth surface.
Structure of Mars
Mars is a Terrestrial planet similar to earth. It has a solid core, Crust, and Mantle. It is made of iron, nickel, and sulphur. The crust consists of iron and magnesium, aluminium, calcium and potassium.
The red planet Mars
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| Sun and landscape of Mars |
The crust of Mars appears reddish due to iron rocks, that has been oxidized.
Martian soil is red in colour due to rusting of the iron rocks. Its atmosphere has dust storms and the storms have created a landscape on Mars's surface.
Grand Canyon and high mountains
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| Grand Canyon Mars |
Grand Canyon on Mars is ten times the size of earth Grand Canyon on earth.
Mount Olympus mons is three-time taller than Mount Everest. It is an extinct volcano.
Mars has Landscapes similar to Earth
Mars may have had water in the past because, it has a network of rivers, valleys, deltas, and other landforms(1).
It may have experienced a flood about 3.5 billion years ago. Mars has water today also but its atmosphere is too thin to keep water in the liquid state. Water exists in ice caps and ice dust.
Mars has ice in polar regions. This ice is under the surface of Mars.
Atmosphere of Mars
The atmosphere of Mars is made of carbon dioxide ((96%), nitrogen, and Argon gas.
But its atmosphere is 100 times thinner than earth. This thin atmosphere is unable to protect the heat of the planet. A thin atmosphere can not provide enough pressure so that water can exist in the liquid state.
Thus this planet is a cold desert. Surface temperature -63 degrees.
This atmosphere is unable to protect the planet from meteorites, asteroids, and comets temperature on Mars is 20 degrees Celsius to - 153 degrees Celsius.
The heat of the Sun escapes from the planet because its atmosphere is too thin to keep it.
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