Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system. It is named after Mars, the Roman god of war (Ares in Greek mythology). Its name was chosen because of its red color, a feature that also earned it the nickname "The Red Planet". Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, both are small and oddly-shaped, each possibly being captured asteroids. The prefix areo- refers to Mars in the same way geo- refers to Earth—for example, areology versus geology. (Areology is also used to refer to the study of Mars as a whole rather than ju ...

Including:

• Mars - Mythology
• Mars - Physical characteristics
• Mars - Atmosphere
• Mars - Geology
• Mars - Topography
• Mars - Canals
• Mars - Ice patches
• Mars - The moons of Mars
• Mars - The exploration of Mars
• Mars - Nomenclature
• Mars - Early nomenclature
• Mars - Modern nomenclature
• Mars - Observation of Mars
• Mars - Appearance
• Mars - Martian meteorites
• Mars - Life on Mars
• Mars - The Mars flag
• Mars - Mars in fiction

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The red, fiery appearance of Mars is caused by iron oxide (rust) on its surface. Mars has only a quarter the surface area of the Earth and only one-tenth the mass, though its surface area is approximately equal to that of the Earth's dry land because Mars lacks oceans. The solar day (or sol) on Mars is very close to Earth's day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. Mars - Atmosphere. Mars' atmosphere is thin: the air pressure on the surface is only 750 pascals, about 0.75% of the average on Ear ...

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Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Physical characteristics

The red, fiery appearance of Mars is caused by iron oxide (rust) on its surface. Mars has only a quarter the surface area of the Earth and only one-tenth the mass, though its surface area is approximately equal to that of the Earth's dry land because Mars lacks oceans. The solar day (or sol) on Mars is very close to Earth's day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. Mars - Atmosphere. Mars' atmosphere is thin: the air pressure on the surface is only 750 pascals, about 0.75% of the average on Ear ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Physical characteristics

Mars - Early nomenclature. The name Mars comes from the Roman god of war because the planet is a blood-red color, and so it looks like a drop of blood in the sky. Although better remembered for mapping the Moon starting in 1830, Johann Heinrich Mädler and Wilhelm Beer were the first "areographers". They started off by establishing once and for all that most of the surface features were permanent, and pinned down Mars' rotation period. In 1840, Mädler combined ten years of observations and drew the first ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Nomenclature

A handful of objects are known that are surely meteorites and may be of Martian origin. Two of them may show signs of ancient bacterial activity. On August 6, 1996 NASA announced that analysis of the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to have come from Mars, shows some features that may be fossils of single-celled organisms, although this idea is controversial. In Solar System Research (March 2004, vol 38, page 97) it was suggested tha ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Martian meteorites

The depiction of Mars in fiction has been stimulated its dramatic red color and by early scientific speculations that its surface conditions might be capable of supporting life. Until the arrival of planetary probes, the traditional view of Mars derived from the astronomers Percival Lowell and Giovanni Schiaparelli, whose observation of supposedly linear features on the planet created the myth of canals on Mars. For many years, a standard notion of the planet as a drying, cooling, dying world with ancient civilizations constructing ir ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Mars in fiction

Some evidence suggests that the planet once was significantly more habitable than today, but the question on whether living organisms ever actually existed there is an open one. Some researchers think that a certain rock which is believed to have originated on Mars - specifically, meteorite ALH84001 - does contain evidence of past biologic activity, but no consensus about these claims has been achieved so far and recent research indicates that the rock, since its creation several billion years ago, has never been exposed to temperatures for ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Life on Mars

Dozens of spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been sent to Mars by the Soviet Union (Russia), the United States, Europe, and Japan to study the planet's surface, climate, and geography. Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars have failed in one manner or another before completing or even beginning their missions. Part of this high failure rate can be ascribed to technical problems, but enough have either failed or lost communications for no apparent reason that some researchers half-jokingly speak of an E ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - The exploration of Mars

Earth passes Mars every 780 days (or two years plus seven weeks and one day) at a distance of about 80,000,000 km. However, this varies because the orbits are elliptical. To a naked-eye observer, Mars usually shows a distinct yellow, orange or reddish colour, and varies in brightness more than any other planet as seen from Earth over the course of its orbit, due to the fact that when furthest away from the Earth it is more than seven times as far from the latter as when it is closest (and can be lost in the Sun's glare for months at a time w ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Observation of Mars

The depiction of Mars in fiction has been stimulated its dramatic red color and by early scientific speculations that its surface conditions might be capable of supporting life. Until the arrival of planetary probes, the traditional view of Mars derived from the astronomers Percival Lowell and Giovanni Schiaparelli, whose observation of supposedly linear features on the planet created the myth of canals on Mars. For many years, a standard notion of the planet as a drying, cooling, dying world with ancient civilizations constructing ir ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Mars in fiction

Dozens of spacecraft, including orbiters, landers, and rovers, have been sent to Mars by the Soviet Union, the United States, Europe, and Japan to study the planet's surface, climate, and geography. Roughly two-thirds of all spacecraft destined for Mars have failed in one manner or another before completing or even beginning their missions. Part of this high failure rate can be ascribed to technical problems, but enough have either failed or lost communications for no apparent reason that some researchers half-jokingly speak of an Earth-Mars ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - The exploration of Mars

Mars - Early nomenclature. Although better remembered for mapping the Moon starting in 1830, Johann Heinrich Mädler and Wilhelm Beer were the first "areographers". They started off by establishing once and for all that most of the surface features were permanent, and pinned down Mars' rotation period. In 1840, Mädler combined ten years of observations and drew the first map of Mars ever made. Rather than giving names to the various markings they mapped, Beer and Mädler simply designated them with letters; Meridian Bay (S ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Nomenclature

Earth passes Mars every 780 days (or two years plus seven weeks and one day) at a distance of about 80,000,000 km. However, this varies because the orbits are elliptical. To a naked-eye observer, Mars usually shows a distinct yellow, orange or reddish colour, and varies in brightness more than any other planet as seen from Earth over the course of its orbit, due to the fact that when furthest away from the Earth it is more than seven times as far from the latter as when it is closest (and can be lost in the Sun's glare for months at a time w ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Observation of Mars

A handful of objects are known that are surely meteorites and may be of Martian origin. Two of them may show signs of ancient bacterial activity. On August 6, 1996 NASA announced that analysis of the ALH 84001 meteorite thought to have come from Mars, shows some features that may be fossils of single-celled organisms, although this idea is controversial. In Solar System Research (March 2004, vol 38, page 97) it was suggested tha ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Martian meteorites

Some evidence suggests that the planet once was significantly more habitable than today, but the question on whether living organisms ever actually existed there is an open one. Some researchers think that a certain rock which is believed to have originated on Mars - specifically, meteorite ALH84001 - does contain evidence of past biologic activity, but no consensus about these claims has been achieved so far and recent research indicates that the rock, since its creation several billion years ago, has never b ...

See also:

Mars, Mars - Mythology, Mars - Physical characteristics, Mars - Atmosphere, Mars - Geology, Mars - Topography, Mars - Canals, Mars - Ice patches, Mars - The moons of Mars, Mars - The exploration of Mars, Mars - Nomenclature, Mars - Early nomenclature, Mars - Modern nomenclature, Mars - Observation of Mars, Mars - Appearance, Mars - Martian meteorites, Mars - Life on Mars, Mars - The Mars flag, Mars - Mars in fiction

Read more here: » Mars: Encyclopedia II - Mars - Life on Mars