Mars stands out in our solar system as one of its brightest planets, boasting a reddish surface dotted with craters and giant volcanoes such as Olympus Mons. Mariner space probes provided us with our first close-up images of Mars in 1965, and since then scientists have studied it carefully, uncovering evidence of past life on…
As sunlight travels through the atmosphere, its light is scattered by air molecules and particles, with shorter wavelengths such as violet and blue being dispersed more widely than longer ones (red). Sky blue color comes from sunlight which has passed through our atmosphere; lunar illumination does not have this same impact, since its beam hasn’t…
Mars, located four planets from the Sun, features a dense core, rocky mantle and thick crust with two small moons named Phobos and Deimos orbiting close by. Mars gets its distinctive red hue from iron oxide found abundantly on its surface, taking after Ares – the Roman god of war. Origins Mars has long held…
Ancient astronomers were mystified by the Red Planet’s seemingly random movement across the sky, sometimes moving in line with its celestial neighbors (prograde motion) or in reverse (retrograde). Although Mars and Earth share many similarities, they differ greatly in many aspects. Atmosphere Mars has an extremely tenuous atmosphere with pressure that is less than 1…
Mars can be seen with the naked eye throughout most of the year and becomes easier and brighter to identify during oppositions, when Earth and Mars come closest together on their orbital paths around the Sun. Planet Earth’s surface is reddish brown in hue and covered with black volcanic sand and dark basalt rocks that…
For spacecraft to reach Mars, they must first escape Earth’s gravity by using powerful rocket fuel and launch at exactly the right moment – both planets orbit around the Sun at different speeds and distances; every 26 months or so they come closer together, making travel to Mars much simpler. Spirit A six-wheeled vehicle equipped…
Mars, one of the inner planets of our Solar System, is often known as “the Red Planet” due to its distinct red hue and iron oxide coating. With two natural satellites or moons named Deimos and Phobos as natural satellites or moons circling it. Also dubbed as “the Fourth Planet”, its axis of rotation tilts…
On Tuesday morning, astronomy enthusiasts from Asia, Australia and North America witnessed the Moon slowly become darker until its full eclipse became visible; otherwise known as a blood moon. This event would mark the last total lunar eclipse until 2025. An appearance of a blood moon occurs when direct sunlight is blocked and its light…
Mars, located as the fourth planet from the Sun and an Earthlike planet with two moons, features an atmosphere which is thin compared to Earth and features that resemble impact craters found on both bodies as well as valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps. Earth also experiences giant dust storms which last for months and…
