Mars ( Planet of Earth)

Mars

Mars is the second smallest Planet  in the Solar system, after the Mercury.  This Planet is the fourth planet from the Sun, which is a cold place enclosed in the dust.

Features of Mars

                 The Dust of the planet Mars is due to the iron oxides, which makes it appear red. This Planet takes a period of 687 days to make a rotation around the sun. Then the distance of the Mars from the sun, which avoids the heat in this planet, so this planet is cooler. On this planet, there is no Greenhouse effect for maintaining the surface heat, so the high temperatures seems to be moderate.  This planet has more similarities with  the Earth.

Structure of Mars

            The Mars contains the rocks, valleys, mountains, storms and the canyons that vary as per the properties.  This Planet is often known as  the Red Planet, which got its name from the Roman god of war. Then the reddish look on this Planet that is visible to the naked eyes, is due to iron oxide on its surface. The temperature of  Mars varies depending on the season of the Planet. Here the lower temperature is -133ºC and the hot temperature is 27ºC.

Atmosphere and elements of Mars

Atmosphere and elements of Mars

            The Mars has a thin atmosphere with the deserts, valleys and the polar ice caps of Earth.  This Planet consists of Argon, Carbon dioxide, Nitrogen and the little amount of the water vapor and the oxygen. This Planet consists of 0.2% of oxygen and  96% of the carbon dioxide. Then the atmosphere is 100 times lesser in density than the Earth and controls the winds ability. This maintains the 25º axial rotation which gives the planet seasons.  The Planet does not have the magnetic field, to protect itself from the emissions of the Sun. This Red Planet contains the iron minerals on the rust, which causes the atmosphere and the soil to appear red.    

Moons of the Mars

            The Red Planet Mars has two moons namely the Deimos and the Phobos.  Both these natural satellite orbits  nearest to the Mars, which were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877 . The Phobos has a diameter of 22Km and the Deimos has a diameter of 12Km. Both these moons have got their names from the Greek characters who were the companions of the Greek God of war. The Phobos sets in the east after rising in the west, while the Deimos rises in the east. Then the movement of the Phobos and the Deimos look different from  the Moon. The Deimos  away from the synchronous orbit, would match the rotation period of the Planet.           

Climate

            The planet has the climate as that of  Earth, because of the same tilt with the rotational axis of the two planets. Then the temperature of the Martian surface, range from low -143 º C to high 35 º C in summer. This difference in  temperature is because of the thin atmosphere that store only less solar heat, less thermal inertia and the low atmosphere. This Planet experiences the largest storm of dust, which attains the speeds of about 160Km/h. These storms varies from the small area storm to the large storms, which covers the whole planet a. They hit the surface, when the Mars is nearest to the Sun.        

 Perihelion and Aphelion

This Planet holds the Perihelion of  206,700,000 Km, which is the closest distance to the sun. 

This Red Planet has the Aphelion of about  249,200,000 Km,  which is the farthest approach to the sun.

Research on the Mars

            Since1906, there are many missions to  Mars, that captures the details of the Planet. Many missions had captured this Planet, starting from the flybys to the orbiters.  In 1965, the first successful original Mars mission was the Marine 4 flyby. The Mariner 9 and the Viking gave good maps and data of Mars. Then the Mars Global Surveyor mission which began in 1996, was in service till 2006. This gave the details on the magnetic field and the surface minerals.

Position in the solar system: fourth Planet from the Sun.

Features: Shape – spherical; Mass -6.4171*10²³ Kg

                   Perihelion – 206,700,000 Km ; Aphelion – 249,200,000 Km.