• General information about Mars. What is Mars, a characteristic of the planet. Distance to Mars. Seasonal changes on the planet Mars

    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets. Like the rest of the planets solar system(not counting the Earth) is named after the mythological figure - the Roman god of war. In addition to his official name Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet, due to the brown-red color of its surface. With all this, Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system after.

    For most of the nineteenth century, life was thought to exist on Mars. The reason for this belief lies partly in error and partly in human imagination. In 1877, astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was able to observe what he thought were straight lines on the surface of Mars. Like other astronomers, when he noticed these stripes, he suggested that such directness is associated with the existence of intelligent life on the planet. The version popular at that time about the nature of these lines was the assumption that they were irrigation canals. However, with the development of more powerful telescopes in the early twentieth century, astronomers were able to see the Martian surface more clearly and determine that these straight lines were just an optical illusion. As a result, all earlier assumptions about life on Mars were left without evidence.

    Much of the science fiction written during the twentieth century was a direct consequence of the belief that life existed on Mars. From little green men to tall, laser-wielding invaders, Martians have been the focus of many television and radio programs, comics, films, and novels.

    Despite the fact that the discovery of Martian life in the eighteenth century turned out to be false as a result, Mars remained for the scientific community the most life-friendly (other than Earth) planet in the solar system. Subsequent planetary missions were no doubt dedicated to the search for any form of life on Mars. So a mission called Viking, carried out in the 1970s, conducted experiments on Martian soil in the hope of finding microorganisms in it. At the time, it was believed that the formation of compounds during experiments could be the result of biological agents, but later it was found that the compounds chemical elements can be created without biological processes.

    However, even these data did not deprive scientists of hope. Finding no signs of life on the surface of Mars, they suggested that all the necessary conditions could exist below the surface of the planet. This version is still relevant today. At the very least, such planetary missions of the present as ExoMars and Mars Science involve checking all options the existence of life on Mars in the past or present, on the surface and below it.

    Atmosphere of Mars

    The composition of the atmosphere of Mars is very similar to the atmosphere, one of the least hospitable atmospheres in the entire solar system. The main component in both environments is carbon dioxide (95% for Mars, 97% for Venus), but there is a big difference - there is no greenhouse effect on Mars, so the temperature on the planet does not exceed 20 ° C, in contrast to 480 ° C on the surface of Venus . Such a huge difference is due to the different density of the atmospheres of these planets. At a comparable density, the atmosphere of Venus is extremely thick, while Mars has a rather thin atmospheric layer. Simply put, if the thickness of the atmosphere of Mars were more significant, then it would resemble Venus.

    In addition, Mars has a very rarefied atmosphere, Atmosphere pressure is only about 1% of the pressure on . This is equivalent to a pressure of 35 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

    One of the earliest directions in the study of the Martian atmosphere is its influence on the presence of water on the surface. Despite the fact that the polar caps contain water in a solid state, and the air contains water vapor formed as a result of frost and low pressure, today all studies indicate that the "weak" atmosphere of Mars does not favor the existence of water in a liquid state on the surface. planets.

    However, relying on the latest data from Martian missions, scientists are confident that liquid water exists on Mars and is one meter below the surface of the planet.

    Water on Mars: speculation / wikipedia.org

    However, despite the thin atmospheric layer, Mars has quite acceptable by earthly standards. weather conditions. The most extreme forms of this weather are winds, dust storms, frosts and fogs. As a result of such weather activity, significant traces of erosion have been observed in some areas of the Red Planet.

    Another interesting point about the Martian atmosphere is that, according to several modern scientific research, in the distant past, it was dense enough for the existence of oceans on the surface of the planet from water in a liquid state. However, according to the same studies, the atmosphere of Mars has been dramatically changed. The leading version of such a change to this moment is a hypothesis about the collision of the planet with another sufficiently voluminous cosmic body, which led to the loss of Mars of most of its atmosphere.

    The surface of Mars has two significant features, which, by an interesting coincidence, are associated with differences in the hemispheres of the planet. The fact is that the northern hemisphere has a fairly smooth relief and only a few craters, while the southern hemisphere is literally dotted with hills and craters of various sizes. In addition to the topographical differences that indicate the difference in the relief of the hemispheres, there are also geological ones - studies indicate that areas in the northern hemisphere are much more active than in the southern.

    On the surface of Mars is the largest volcano known to date - Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) and the largest known canyon - Mariner (Mariner Valley). Nothing more grandiose has yet been found in the solar system. The height of Mount Olympus is 25 kilometers (this is three times higher than Everest, the most high mountain on Earth), and the diameter of the base is 600 kilometers. The Mariner Valley is 4,000 kilometers long, 200 kilometers wide and almost 7 kilometers deep.

    To date, the most significant discovery regarding the Martian surface has been the discovery of channels. A feature of these channels is that, according to NASA experts, they were created running water, and thus provide the most reliable evidence for the theory that, in the distant past, the surface of Mars greatly resembled that of Earth.

    The most famous peridolia associated with the surface of the Red Planet is the so-called "Face on Mars". The relief is really very reminiscent human face when the first image of a certain area was taken by the Viking I spacecraft in 1976. Many people at the time considered this image to be real proof that intelligent life existed on Mars. Subsequent shots showed that this is just a game of lighting and human fantasy.

    Like other terrestrial planets, three layers are distinguished in the interior of Mars: the crust, mantle, and core.
    Although exact measurements have not yet been made, scientists have made certain predictions about the thickness of the Martian crust based on data on the depth of the Mariner Valley. The deep, vast system of the valley, located in the southern hemisphere, could not exist if the crust of Mars was not much thicker than the earth. Preliminary estimates indicate that the thickness of the Martian crust in the northern hemisphere is about 35 kilometers and about 80 kilometers in the southern.

    Quite a lot of research has been devoted to the core of Mars, in particular, to find out whether it is solid or liquid. Some theories have pointed to the absence of a strong enough magnetic field as a sign of a solid core. However, in last decade the hypothesis that the core of Mars is liquid, at least in part, is gaining more and more popularity. This was indicated by the discovery of magnetized rocks on the planet's surface, which may be a sign that Mars has or had a liquid core.

    Orbit and rotation

    Mars' orbit is notable for three reasons. First, its eccentricity is the second largest of all the planets, only Mercury is smaller. In this elliptical orbit, Mars' perihelion is 2.07 x 108 kilometers, much further than its aphelion, 2.49 x 108 kilometers.

    Secondly, scientific evidence suggests that such high degree eccentricity was far from always present, and, perhaps, was less than the Earth's at some point in the history of the existence of Mars. The reason for this change, scientists call the gravitational forces of neighboring planets that affect Mars.

    Thirdly, of all the terrestrial planets, Mars is the only one on which the year lasts longer than on Earth. in a natural way this is related to its orbital distance from the Sun. One Martian year is equal to almost 686 Earth days. A Martian day lasts approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes, which is the time it takes for the planet to complete one complete revolution on its axis.

    Another notable similarity between the planet and Earth is its axial tilt, which is approximately 25°. This feature indicates that the seasons on the Red Planet follow each other in exactly the same way as on Earth. However, the hemispheres of Mars experience completely different temperature regimes for each season, different from those on Earth. This is again due to the much greater eccentricity of the planet's orbit.

    SpaceX And ​​plans to colonize Mars

    So we know that SpaceX wants to send humans to Mars in 2024, but their first Martian mission will be the launch of the Red Dragon capsule in 2018. What steps is the company going to take to achieve this goal?

    • 2018 year. Launch of the Red Dragon space probe to demonstrate technology. The goal of the mission is to reach Mars and do some surveys on the landing site on a small scale. Perhaps the supply of additional information for NASA or space agencies of other states.
    • 2020 Launch of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT1 spacecraft (unmanned). The purpose of the mission is to send cargo and return samples. Large-scale demonstrations of technology for habitation, life support, energy.
    • 2022 Launch of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT2 spacecraft (unmanned). Second iteration of MCT. At this time, MCT1 will be on its way back to Earth, carrying Martian samples. MCT2 is supplying equipment for the first manned flight. The MCT2 ship will be ready for launch as soon as the crew arrives on the Red Planet in 2 years. In the event of trouble (as in the movie "The Martian"), the team will be able to use it to leave the planet.
    • 2024 Third iteration of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT3 and first manned flight. At that time, all technologies will prove their performance, MCT1 will make a trip to Mars and back, and MCT2 is ready and tested on Mars.

    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets. The distance from the Sun is about 227,940,000 kilometers.

    The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. He was known to the ancient Greeks as Ares. It is believed that Mars received such an association because of the blood-red color of the planet. Due to its color, the planet was also known to other ancient cultures. The first Chinese astronomers called Mars the "Star of Fire", and the ancient Egyptian priests designated it as "Her Desher", which means "red".

    The landmass on Mars is very similar to that on Earth. Despite the fact that Mars occupies only 15% of the volume and 10% of the mass of the Earth, it has a land mass comparable to our planet as a result of the fact that water covers about 70% of the Earth's surface. At the same time, the surface gravity of Mars is about 37% of the gravity on Earth. This means that you can theoretically jump three times higher on Mars than on Earth.

    Only 16 out of 39 missions to Mars were successful. Since the Mars 1960A mission launched in the USSR in 1960, a total of 39 descent orbiters and rovers have been sent to Mars, but only 16 of these missions have been successful. In 2016, a probe was launched as part of the Russian-European ExoMars mission, the main objectives of which will be to search for signs of life on Mars, study the surface and topography of the planet, and map potential hazards from environment for future manned missions to Mars.

    Debris from Mars has been found on Earth. It is believed that traces of some of the Martian atmosphere have been found in meteorites that have bounced off the planet. After they left Mars, these meteorites for a long time, for millions of years, flew around the solar system among other objects and space debris, but were captured by the gravity of our planet, fell into its atmosphere and crashed to the surface. The study of these materials allowed scientists to learn a lot about Mars even before the start of space flights.

    In the recent past, people were convinced that Mars was home to intelligent life. This was largely influenced by the discovery of straight lines and ditches on the surface of the Red Planet by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. He believed that such straight lines cannot be created by nature and are the result of intelligent activity. However, it was later proven that this was nothing more than an optical illusion.

    The highest planetary mountain known in the solar system is on Mars. It is called Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) and rises 21 kilometers in height. It is believed that this is a volcano that was formed billions of years ago. Scientists have found a lot of evidence that age volcanic lava The object is small enough that it could be evidence that Olympus may still be active. However, there is a mountain in the solar system that Olympus is inferior in height to - this is the central peak of Reyasilvia, located on the asteroid Vesta, whose height is 22 kilometers.

    Dust storms occur on Mars - the most extensive in the solar system. This is due to the elliptical shape of the trajectory of the planet's orbit around the Sun. The path of the orbit is more elongated than that of many other planets, and this oval shape of the orbit results in ferocious dust storms that engulf the entire planet and can last for many months.

    The Sun appears to be about half its visual Earth size when viewed from Mars. When Mars is closest to the Sun in its orbit, and its southern hemisphere is facing the Sun, the planet experiences a very short but incredibly hot summer. At the same time, a short but cold winter sets in in the northern hemisphere. When the planet is further from the Sun, and pointed towards it by the northern hemisphere, Mars experiences a long and mild summer. At the same time, a long winter sets in in the southern hemisphere.

    With the exception of the Earth, scientists consider Mars the most suitable planet for life. Leading space agencies are planning a series of space flights over the next decade to find out if Mars has the potential for life to exist and whether it is possible to build a colony on it.

    Martians and aliens from Mars have long been the main candidates for the role of extraterrestrial aliens, which has made Mars one of the most popular planets in the solar system.

    Mars is the only planet in the system other than Earth that has polar ice. Solid water has been discovered under the polar caps of Mars.

    Just like on Earth, Mars has seasons, but they last twice as long. This is because Mars is tilted on its axis by about 25.19 degrees, which is close to Earth's axial tilt (22.5 degrees).

    Mars has no magnetic field. Some scientists believe that it existed on the planet about 4 billion years ago.

    The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, were described in Gulliver's Travels by author Jonathan Swift. This was 151 years before they were discovered.

    In what year Mars was discovered and why Mars is called the red planet, you will learn from this article.

    When was Mars discovered?

    The planet Mars, as a celestial body, has been known to mankind for a very long time. It got its name during its existence ancient rome. Planet named after Mars — bloodthirsty god of war(from- for blood red). It used to be called the blood planet. Mars has an abundance of iron oxide, which is why it is red.

    The first written evidence of the existence of Mars, as an object wandering in the night sky, was made in 1534 by ancient Egyptian astronomers.

    But scientific interest in the planet began to manifest itself at the moment when the first measuring instruments appeared. They helped man to consider celestial bodies in more detail.

    Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer, first saw the discrepancy between the motion of Mars and other planets using the sextant instrument. This happened in the 16th century.

    Johannes Kepler continued to study the red celestial body, based on the observations of Tycho Brahe. In 1605 he calculated that his orbit was an ellipse with the sun at its focus. From the second half of the 17th century, astronomical observations helped determine the main features of the planet's surface and establish the period of revolution of its axis. It is 24 hours and 40 minutes. In 1704, polar caps of snow and ice were discovered on Mars. And in 1837 the first maps were drawn up.

    And the seventh largest:

    Orbit distance from Sun: 227,940,000 km (1.52 AU)

    Diameter: 6794 km

    Mars has been known since prehistoric times. The planet has been carefully studied using ground-based observatories.

    First spaceship that visited Mars was Mariner 4 (USA) in 1965. Others followed, such as Mars 2 (USSR), the first spacecraft to land on Mars, followed by two Viking (USA) landers in 1976.

    This was followed by a 20-year break in the launches of spacecraft to Mars, and on July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder successfully landed.

    In 2004, the Opportunity rover landed on Mars, which conducted geological research and sent many images to Earth.

    In 2008, the Phoenix spacecraft landed on the northern plains of Mars to search for water.

    Then three orbital stations were sent into the orbit of MarsMars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey and Mars Express currently in service.

    The MSL Curiosity (CIF) spacecraft successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. The landing was broadcast live on the NASA website. The device landed in a given area - in the Gale crater.
    The Curiosity rover (from the English "curiosity", "curiosity") was launched on November 26, 2011. It is the largest robotic vehicle in the history of Mars exploration - its mass is more than 900 kilograms.
    One of the main tasks of Curiosity is the analysis chemical composition soil at the surface and at shallow depths. Its analytical instruments include a quadrupole mass spectrometer, a gas chromatograph, and X-ray spectrometers. In addition, it is equipped with a Russian-made DAN neutron detector designed to search for ice under the planet's surface.

    The orbit of Mars is elliptical. This significantly affects the temperature with a difference of 30 C , from the side of the Sun, measured at the aphelion of the orbit and perihelion. It has big influence to the climate of Mars. While average temperature on Mars is about -55 C, the surface temperature of Mars ranges from -133 C at the winter pole to almost 27 C on the day side during the summer.

    Even though Mars is much smaller than Earth, its area is about the same as Earth's land surface area.

    Mars has one of the most varied and interesting terrains among the planets:

    Mount Olympus : the largest mountain in the solar system, its height is 24 km above the surrounding plain. The foot of the mountain is 500 km in diameter and is framed by rocks 6 km high.

    Tarsis: a huge bulge on the surface of Mars, about 4000 km across and 10 km high.

    Mariner Valley: a system of canyons 4000 km long and 2 to 7 km deep;

    Hellas Plain: A meteorite impact crater in the southern hemisphere over 6 km deep and 2,000 km in diameter.

    A significant part of the surface of Mars is covered with very old craters, but there are also much younger rift valleys, ridges, hills and plains.

    The southern hemisphere is covered with craters, much like the moon. The northern hemisphere is made up of plains that are much younger, smaller in height, and have a much more complex history. A sharp change in altitude of several kilometers occurs at the border of the hemispheres. The reasons for this global dichotomy and the presence of sharp boundaries are unknown.

    The section of the planet looks something like this, the crust in the southern hemisphere is about 80 km and about 30 km in the northern hemisphere, the core is very dense, about 1700 km in radius.

    The relatively low density of Mars compared to other terrestrial planets indicates that its core may contain a relatively high proportion of sulfur and iron (iron and iron sulfide).

    Mars, like Mercury and the Moon, has no active tectonic layers at the present time, there is no sign of the last horizontal movement of the surface. On Earth, folded mountains are evidence of this movement.

    There are currently no signs of ongoing volcanic activity. However, data from the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft indicate that Mars very likely had tectonic activity sometime in the past.

    There is very clear evidence of erosion in many places on Mars, including large floods and small river systems. In the past, there was some kind of liquid on the surface of the planet.

    Mars may have had seas, and even oceans, the Mars Global Surveyor returned very clear images of the layered soil system. It is rather caused by the presence of fluid in the past. The erosion age of the channels is estimated at about 4 billion years.

    Mars Express in early 2005 sent back an image of a dry sea that was filled with liquid as recently as 5 million years ago.


    Early in its history, Mars was much more like Earth. As on Earth, nearly all of the carbon dioxide has been used to form carbonate rocks.

    Mars has a very thin atmosphere, consisting mainly of a small amount of carbon dioxide (95.3%) left, nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%), trace oxygen (0.15%), water (0 .03%).

    The average pressure on the surface of Mars is only about 7 millibars (less than 1% of the pressure on Earth), but it varies greatly with altitude. So, 9 millibars in the deepest depressions and 1 millibars at the top of Mount Olympus.

    However, there is a lot of wind on Mars. strong winds and huge dust storms that sometimes cover the entire planet for several months.

    Telescopic observations have shown that Mars has permanent caps at both poles, visible even with a small telescope. They are composed of water ice and solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice"). Ice caps have a layered structure with alternating layers of ice and varying concentrations of dark dust.

    The Viking spacecraft (USA) from the descent vehicles conducted research to determine the existence of life on Mars. The results have been somewhat mixed, but most scientists currently believe they have no evidence for life on Mars. Optimists point out that only two tiny soil samples have been analyzed, and not from the most favorable locations.

    Large, but not global, weak magnetic fields exist in various regions of Mars. This unexpected discovery was made by Mars Global Surveyor a few days after it entered the orbit of Mars. Perhaps these are remnants of an earlier global magnetic field.

    If there was a magnetic field on Mars, then life on it becomes more likely.

    Mars characteristics:

    Weight (10 24 kg): 0.64185

    Volume (10 10 km3): 16.318

    Equatorial radius: 3397 km

    Polar radius: 3375 km

    Volumetric mean radius: 3390 km

    Average density: 3933 kg/m 3

    Radius: 1700 km

    Gravity (ed.) (m/s): 3.71

    Acceleration of gravity (ed.) (m/s): 3.69

    Second escape velocity (km/s): 5.03

    Albedo: 0.250

    Visual albedo: 0.150

    Solar Power (W/m 2 ): 589,2

    Black body temperature (k): 210.1

    Number of natural satellites: 2

    Mars orbit parameters

    Semi-major axis (distance from the Sun) (106 km): 227.92

    Sidereal period of the orbit (days): 686.98

    Tropical orbit period (days): 686.973

    Perihelion (106 km): 206.62

    Aphelios (106 km): 249.23

    Synodic period (days): 779.94

    Maximum orbital speed (km/s): 26.5

    Minimum Orbital Speed ​​(km/s): 21.97

    Orbital inclination (degrees): 1,850

    Period of rotation around its axis (hours): 24.6229

    Daylength (hours): 24.6597

    Tilt (degrees): 25.19

    Minimum distance to Earth (106 km): 55.7

    Maximum distance to Earth (106 km): 401.3

    Atmosphere parameters

    Surface pressure (bar): 6.36 mb (varies from 4 to 8.7 mb depending on the meson)

    Atmospheric density near the surface (kg / m 3): 0.020

    Atmospheric altitude (km): 11.1

    Average temperature (k): - 55 C

    Temperature range: -133С - +27С

    The main parameters of the satellites of Mars

    As long as humanity has existed, so much has been said about whether there is life on Mars. The fourth planet of the solar system, shining with a faint reddish light in our sky, today remains almost last hope human civilization in search of a place suitable for life within the reach of space. This little red dot in the night sky could be an alternate airfield for humanity.

    Whether this is true or not, the ongoing space exploration of the red planet, which in last years noticeably intensified. If the existence of Martian life is proven, then this discovery can be considered the most significant in modern human history.

    What Mars do we know: a brief description of the planet

    Among the terrestrial planets, Mars is of great interest to the scientific community. Scientists all over the world have spent colossal efforts and funds to study the celestial bodies closest to us, but only Mars has given us a chance to hope that the Earth is not so lonely in space. Scientific facts about the planet Mars indicate that this space object has very interesting astrophysical and physical conditions.

    The red planet was noticed by ancient astronomers, oracles and astrologers, they attributed to this celestial body the most unusual qualities and properties that influence the fate of people. As a rule, the appearance of a bloody star was associated with the outbreak of hostilities, with the onset of large and serious trials. In this regard, our ancestors gave this small planet a formidable name in honor of the god of war - Mars. In fact, the red color of the light spectrum of a distant star is due to the large amount of iron oxide contained in the surface layer of the Martian crust. This became known already in the modern era, when telescopes made it possible to look into the face of the cosmic god.

    Mars was first observed by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Already in the 17th century, astronomers added information about the surface of the planet. On Mars, dark areas and light areas were revealed, which corresponded to the features of the relief. The bright polar regions aroused the greatest interest, but the true reason for this color of the planet's surface at the poles was discovered only in the 20th century.

    Observations by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, made through a telescope in 1877, suggested the presence of intelligent life on the expanses of Mars. The scientist took the faults of the Martian crust seen through the lens of the telescope for an artificially created system of irrigation canals.

    Despite the fact that the formidable Mars is adjacent to the Earth, in terms of brightness of light it is inferior to Venus and Jupiter. The apparent magnitude of Mars is −2.91m. Among the terrestrial planets, the red planet is the last. Further, beyond the orbit of Mars, the asteroid belt and the cold world of gas giants begin. You can clearly see a red star in the sky once every two years, during a big confrontation. During these periods, the fourth planet is at the minimum distance from our world. The distance to the Earth is only 77 million km.

    Looking at Mars through telescopes, astrophysicists obtained the following data about this space object:

    • diameter of a space object;
    • state and shape of the planet's orbit;
    • the distance to our main luminary and to the Earth;
    • time of revolution of Mars around the Sun and around its own axis;
    • What are the moons of Mars.

    Already in our time, information about the Martian atmosphere and the real relief of the small red planet has become known. The surface of the planet Mars, the composition of the Martian crust and the state of the polar regions have been studied in detail.

    Mars is half the size of Earth. The diameter of the formidable space god is only 6779 km, and its average radius is 0.53 of the radius of the planet Earth. The weight of the planet is 6.4169 x 1023 kg. This is the main reason that Mars has a lower density compared to the Earth - 3.94 g/cm3, compared to 5.52 g/cm3 for the Earth. In this aspect, the value of gravity on the Martian surface is curious, which is 38% of the earth's gravity. In other words, a person weighing 80 kg on Earth would weigh only 25 kg on Mars.

    Like other terrestrial planets, Mars is a dense, massive rocky body. With such physical parameters the planet next to us has a similar structure. In the center of the Martian ball there is a fairly large core with a diameter of almost 3000 km. The core of the planet is enveloped by a mantle layer 1800-2000 km thick. The Martian crust is much thicker than the Earth's and is about 50 km. Such a thickness of the crust indicates a turbulent tectonic past of the planet - tectonic processes on Mars ended much earlier than on Earth.

    The orbit of Mars is quite interesting from the point of view of astrophysics. It has a large eccentricity, which ensures the uneven movement of the planet around the Sun. At perihelion, the planet Mars flies to a distance of 209 million km from the Sun. At aphelion, this distance increases to 249 million km. This unusual position of the orbit is due to the influence of the Earth and Jupiter - the planets closest to Mars. The period of revolution around our star exceeds the parameters of the earth. Despite the fact that the speed of Mars in orbit is slightly more than 24 km / s, the Martian year is almost twice as long as the Earth's and is 686 Earth days. But time on the planet flows in the same way as on earth, and the Martian day is almost the same as on our planet - 24 hours and 37 minutes. The small planet rotates impressively enough around its own axis, which has an angle of inclination of 25 ° - almost the same as that of our blue planet. This provides the same change of seasons as on Earth. However, at the same time, the temperature regimes in both Martian hemispheres differ significantly from the terrestrial parameters.

    Why is Mars interesting for earthlings?

    From the point of view of astrophysics, Mars is very similar to our earthly world. Despite the fact that the planet is smaller than the Earth in size and located much farther from the Sun, many of the parameters of our neighbor are identical to those of the Earth. For these two planets, the physical parameters are the same.

    The results of observations of the red planet through telescopes gave good reason to assume the existence of Martian life. The result of a close study was a map of Mars, compiled in 1840. A closer study of the surface of the planet took place in the second half of the 19th century. The secrets that our space neighbor hid in himself became the reason for numerous insinuations. The rich imagination of scientists and sensationalists populated Mars with intelligent beings. The study of the spectrum of the Martian atmosphere made it possible to identify spectral lines corresponding to water molecules, which only strengthened the position of supporters of the theory of the existence of Martians. Back in 1897, the English science fiction writer HG Wells created the best-selling science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, giving the main place in the book to bloodthirsty aliens from the red planet.

    During the 20th century, the topic of the existence of an extraterrestrial Martian civilization was constantly fueled by new scientific data and research, revealing the mysteries of Mars. Improving the quality of optical telescopes has given another impetus to the emergence of new ideas and theories regarding the presence of intelligent life on Mars.

    The features of the surface relief prompted the scientist Percival Lowell to the existence of Martian channels, which really resembled artificially created structures. Here it would be appropriate to recall the stone face found on the surface of the red planet and objects resembling pyramids and other religious buildings of earthlings.

    It is worth saying that many of the fantastic discoveries in fact turned out to be just another assumption. The subsequent space exploration of our neighbor in the second half of the 20th century opened the veil of secrets. The pyramids and stone mask turned out to be just a distorted image of the features of the Martian surface. A similar picture is with the story of the Martian canals. In the photographs taken from the Viking, Mariner and Mars spacecraft, it became clear that these are not channels, but giant fractures of the Martian crust, caused by the stormy volcanic youth of the planet.

    From the point of view of science, the chances of finding and detecting any life forms on Mars look more modest. However, attempts to find life on Mars or try to colonize the planet are well founded and have become the subject of an ambitious space program to explore Mars, fly and land a man on the surface of the red planet.

    Interesting details and characteristics of Mars

    In the 1920s, data on the temperature regime of the red planet were obtained for the first time. The temperature on the surface of Mars corresponds to the terrestrial parameters in the most extreme regions of our planet. Through the efforts of the astrophysicist Kuiper, it was possible to obtain information about what the atmosphere of the red planet actually consists of. Previously, it was assumed that the gaseous envelope around the planet is mainly saturated with carbon dioxide. Kuiper was able to pinpoint this. The main component of "Martian air" is carbon dioxide. The amount of CO2 in the Martian atmosphere is 12 times the amount of terrestrial carbon dioxide.

    This discovery gave reason to believe that this amount of carbon dioxide creates a greenhouse effect on Mars, which could result in an improvement in the Martian climate. It has now been established that the average temperature of the gas envelope near the planet's surface varies between 13-45°C below zero. Despite the fact that the Martian atmosphere is very rarefied, there are certain meteorological phenomena on this planet that shape its climate.

    Even the extremely small presence of water vapor in the atmosphere of Mars allows water clouds to form at altitudes of 15-30 km. Above, clouds formed from carbon dioxide already reign. Temperature differences at the border of the polar regions with the equatorial regions create meteorological conditions for the birth of vortices. In recent years, thanks to images taken from spacecraft, cyclonic eddies have been discovered on the Martian surface. Discovered on Mars and precipitation. This weather phenomenon is not typical for a space object with such a rarefied atmosphere. Back in 1979, snow was discovered in the landing area of ​​the Viking-2 spacecraft. Later, already in 2008, the Phoenix rover recorded the fact of precipitation in the upper parts of the surface layer of the Martian atmosphere.

    Darkening the picture of Martian cloudlessness are dust storms that have been hosting on the surface of Mars for a long time.

    The discovered polar ice at the south pole of the planet gives reason to believe that our space neighbor is not a lifeless stone desert. The poles on Mars are the least explored area, the ice caps in these areas allow the existence of liquid water in the deep layers of the Martian crust.

    Mars is interesting not only for climatologists who have managed to sort out the atmosphere of the planet on the shelves. Geological structure the planet and its topography are also of great interest. There are traces of a cosmic cataclysm on a universal scale on Mars. Evidence of the collision of the planet with a huge space object in the early stages of formation is a huge crater discovered in the Northern Basin. This largest crater in the solar system has a diameter of 8.5 thousand km. It impresses with its size and the largest volcano in the solar system. The extinct volcano Olympus has a volcanic crater diameter of 85 km, reaching a height of 21 kilometers.

    These and many other facts from the history of the red planet are of considerable interest to the scientific community. The availability of Mars for study makes it the most attractive and interesting space object in our immediate environment.

    If you have any questions - leave them in the comments below the article. We or our visitors will be happy to answer them.

    The story about Mars for children contains information about the temperature on Mars, about its satellites and features. You can supplement the message about Mars with interesting facts.

    A brief message about Mars

    Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Named after the god of war for the color blood red.

    The surface of the planet contains a large amount of iron, which, when oxidized, gives a red color. Due to the fact that Mars is not far from Earth, scientists have suggested that this planet may also have life. After all, on Mars, as well as on Earth, there is a change of seasons.

    The Martian year is 2 times longer than the Earth's - 687 days, and the day is only slightly longer than the Earth's - 24 hours 37 minutes. After research with the help of an interplanetary station, the assumptions about life on Mars were refuted.

    Mars is almost 2 times smaller than Earth. The climate of Mars is the climate of a cold, dehydrated, high-altitude desert with mountains, craters, and volcanoes. Mars has two satellites - Phobos and Deimos, which in Latin means "Fear" and "Horror". Deimos is the smallest moon of the planet in the solar system.

    Message about the planet Mars

    The fifth planet from the Sun is called the "red planet". The planet was named after the ancient Roman god of war - its reddish surface was associated among people with bloody battles. This color is created by reflection. sunlight from the surface of the planet, which is covered with metallic dust of silicon, iron and magnesium. Iron on Mars oxidizes (rusts) and takes on a reddish tint.

    Mars is almost half the size of the Earth in size - its equatorial radius is 3,396.9 kilometers (53.2% of the Earth's). The surface area of ​​Mars is roughly equal to the land area of ​​Earth.

    On Mars, just like on Earth, the seasons change. Temperatures on Mars the most favorable of all the planets of the solar system, excluding the Earth. During the day they reach an average of 30ºС, and at night they drop to -80ºС. At the poles of Mars, the temperature is lower, so they, like the poles of the Earth, are covered with ice and snow. Thus, on Mars there are two favorable conditions for the emergence of life: favorable temperature and water, but there is no main thing - air. The atmosphere of Mars consists mainly of carbon dioxide (95%), and the oxygen necessary for life contains only about 0.1%.

    Water on Mars is concentrated mainly at the poles in the form of snow and ice. If all these ices are melted, the surface of Mars will be covered by a world ocean similar to the Earth's, the depth of which will be several hundred meters. Some scientists even put forward versions that it is possible to artificially create favorable conditions for human life on Mars. To do this, you need to increase the temperature on the surface of the "red planet" and plant plants there that will convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. However, all these ideas are still far from reality. Mars has two natural satellites: Deimos and Phobos.

    Mars is famous for the presence of numerous mountains - the highest in the entire solar system. The Martian Mount Olympus has a height of 21 km!

    The average distance from Mars to the Sun is 228 million kilometers, the period of revolution around the Sun is 687 Earth days. A day on Mars is slightly longer than on Earth.

    We hope that the above information about Mars has helped you. And you can leave your report on Mars through the comment form.

    Read more: