|
|
|
|
Mars is the fourth
planet from the sun and orbits the sun at a distance of about 228 million km. Mars is
named for the Roman god of war because it appears fiery red in the earth’s night sky.
Mars is a relatively small planet, with about half the diameter of Earth and about one-tenth Earth’s mass. The force of gravity on the surface of Mars is about one-third of that on Earth. Mars has twice the diameter and twice the surface gravity of Earth’s moon. The surface area of Mars is almost exactly the same as the surface area of the dry land on Earth. The Martian day is about a half an hour longer than an Earth day, and its year is about two Earth years long. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are named after the dogs of the Roman god Mars. These tiny bodies are heavily cratered dark chunks of rock and may be asteroids captured by the gravitational pull of Mars. Phobos orbits Mars once in less than one Martian day, so it appears to rise in the west and set in the east, usually twice each day. Deimos has the more ordinary habit of rising in the east and setting in the west.Characteristics of Mars:
|
