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The Solar System Wiki

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars has been discovered and observed since ancient times. It is commonly referred to as the "Red Planet" because of its reddish hue that is given by the iron oxide on its surface.

Mars is the most similar planet to Earth, because it has water glaciers on its poles and orbits in the outer edge of its place in the outer habitable zone. Mars has two asteroid-like natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos. The former being larger.

Atmosphere

Mars' atmosphere is very thin, about only a hundredth of Earth's atmosphere density.

Composition

Mars's atmosphere is made up of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 2% and argon, and other traces of gases and water. The atmospheric pressure of Mars equals 40 kilometers in altitude on Earth.

Geographical Features

Main article: Areology of Mars

Mars is home to the tallest mountain range in the Solar System, called Olympus Mons. It is three times taller than that of Mount Everest. It is also a volcano, but does not erupt anymore and is now a type of extinct volcano referred to as dormant volcano. Its last eruption took place about 15 to 8 million years ago.

Valles Marineris

Another geographical feature is the Valles Marineris, which means "Mariner Valleys". It is 700 km in width, leaving the Grand Canyon in the dust only reaching 20 km in width. It is believed this valley was flooded with water in the past.

Olympus Mons

Olympus Mons is a large shield volcano on Mars. It is over 21.9 km high, as measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, and is about two and a half times Mount Everest's height above sea level.

Geology of Mars
Plana Aeolis PlanumAmenthes PlanumAonia PlanumArgentea PlanumAscuris PlanumAurorae PlanumBosporus PlanumDaedalia PlanumHesperia PlanumIcaria PlanumLucus PlanumLunae PlanumMalea PlanumMeridiani PlanumNepenthes PlanumOenotria PlanumOlympia PlanumOphir PlanumOxia PlanumParva PlanumPlanum AngustumPlanum AustralePlanum BoreumPlanum ChroniumPromethei PlanumSinai PlanumSisyphi PlanumSolis PlanumSyria PlanumSyrtis Major PlanumThaumasia PlanumZephyria Planum
Planitiae Acidalia PlanitiaAmazonis PlanitiaArcadia PlanitiaChryse PlanitiaElysium PlanitiaEridania PlanitiaIsidis PlanitiaUtopia Planitia
Terrae Aonia TerraArabia TerraTerra CimmeriaMargaritifer TerraNoachis TerraPromethei TerraTerra SabaeaSirenum TerraTyrrhena TerraXanthe Terra
Borealis Vastitas Borealis
Chaos Hellas ChaosIani ChaosMargaritifer Chaos
Mountains Aeolis MonsAlba MonsApollinaris MonsArsia MonsAscraeus MonsElysium MonsNoctis MonsOlympus MonsPavonis MonsSyria Mons
Fossae Alba FossaeClaritas FossaeIcaria FossaeSirenum Fossae
Mensae Cydonia MensaDeuteronilus MensaProtonilus Mensa
Dorsae Solis Dorsum
Sulci Lycus SulciPavonis Sulci
Labes Candor Labes
Rupes Olympus Rupes
Colles Nili CollesScandia Colles
Valles Ares VallesKasei VallesMaja VallesMamers VallesMarikh VallesMarte VallesReull VallisShalbatana VallesSimud VallesTiu VallesValles Marineris
Undae Tharsis UndaeOlympia Undae
Craters AntoniadiCassiniDollfusGaleGreeleyHuygensJezeroSchiaparelliTikhonravov
Basins Hellas BasinArgyre Basin
Albedo Regions Sinus MeridianiMare Erythraeum
Other Eridania Lake
Structure mars spacepedia

Orbit/Rotation

Mars makes one orbit around the Sun in approximately 687 days. Mars' aphelion is around one hundred forty one million, five hundred thousand miles, or 1.2 AU from the Sun. The perihelion is around one hundred forty five million miles, or about 1.5 AU. Although, this orbit period can be perturbed by neighboring objects in the nearby Asteroid belt, and even the Earth.

Volcanism

The volcanic activity, more referred to as volcanism, has caused lava flows over the few millions of years, leaving behind trenches on the surface that can be viewed through even amateur telescopes on Earth. Examples of volcanism can be traced by to Olympus Mons, which is a possibly dormant shield volcano on the surface of Mars. It has not erupted in thousands of years, yet its last eruption shot a replete of debris into the atmosphere, causing a blackout for weeks. The lava is actually black.

Moons

Main Article: Moons of Mars

Mars harbors two moons in its gravitational pull, named Phobos and Deimos.

Phobos

Main Article: Phobos

Phobos, the larger and denser of the two, is home to the Stickney crater, a crater that is easily spotted to the right of the moon. Phobos was discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877.

Deimos

Main Article: Deimos

The next moon, Deimos, is the smaller and more irregular-shaped moon, which stands to reason that it was an inhabitant of the Asteroid belt. It was too discovered by Asaph Hall in the same year. It has two craters, Swift and Voltaire.

Gallery

See Also

The Planets and Dwarf Planets
Planets
Inner: (MercuryVenusEarthMars) Outer: (JupiterSaturnUranusNeptune)
Dwarf Planets (and candidates)
CeresPlutoHaumeaMakemakeQuaoarOrcusErisGonggongSedna