Transcript Mars - Etiwanda E

by Kathleen Romero
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Name
Size
Location
Atmosphere
Climate
Surface
Satellites (Moons)
Movement
Name
• Mars was named after the Roman god of
war and agriculture (Aries in Greek
mythology).
• The planet probably got this name due to
its fiery red color, caused by the high
amount of iron oxide in its soil. It is
sometimes referred to as the Red Planet.
• The name of the month March derives from
Mars.
Name
• Mars was named after the Roman god of
war and agriculture (Aries in Greek
mythology).
• The planet probably got this name due to
its firey red color, caused by the high
amount of iron oxide in its soil. It is
sometimes referred to as the Red Planet.
• The name of the month March derives from
Mars.
•
Mars is a relatively small planet, with about half the
diameter of Earth and about one-tenth Earth's mass.
surface area is about the same as the land surface area
of Earth. The diameter of Mars is 14.5 million miles.
mass: 6.4219e23
Location
•Mars is located 143 million miles from the sun, making it
the forth planet from the sun.
•Since Mars is found inside the asteroid belt, it is termed an
Inner Planet (or Terrestrial Planet). Mercury, Venus, and
Earth are also considered Inner Planets.
• Characterized by dramatic weather
changes. Since Mars has a thin atmoshere
and no oceans to store heat, temperatures
quikly change.
Mars has seasons, polar caps, clouds, sand
dunes, and dust devils, but no running
water.
Dust storms are also common and
sometimes smother the entire planet!
The average temperature on Mars is about
-67 F!
•Mars has a very thin
atmosphere composed of:
carbon dioxide (95.3%)
nitrogen (2.7%),
argon (1.6%)
oxygen (0.15%)
water (0.03%)
are also much younger rift valleys, ridges, hills and plains.
The dust is not sandy, as in a
sandstorm on Earth, but has
the consistency of flour. The
most interesting surface
features of Mars include two
very distinct hemispheres,
an enormous bulge called
Tharsis littered with
volcanoes and cut by an
Mars has two moons that
orbit around it. Named
after the horses that pulled
Ares chariot, these moons
were probably once
asteroids that got captured
in the Martian magnetic
field.
Phobos
Means “Fear”
Phobos
Means “Panic”
• Martian orbit: 14.5 miles per second 227,940,000 km
(1.52 AU) from Sun
• Length of Martian year:
687
Earth
days.
Movement
• Length of Martian day: 24 hours and 37 minutes.
Reached Mars in 1965 and took the first close-up
images of the Martian surface (22 in all) as it flew by
the planet. The probe found a cratered world with an
atmosphere much thinner than previously thought.
Mariner 9
In 1971, became the first craft to orbit Mars. It returned
information on the Red Planet that no other probe had
done before, revealing huge volcanoes on the Martian
surface, as well as giant canyon systems, and evidence
that water once flowed across the planet. The probe also
took the first detailed close up images of Mars' two
• Mars has been a favorite of people’s imaginations-especially science fiction writers-- as the most likely
•Life
planetonin our solar system (other than Earth) for
human habitation.
Mars?
• The 1938 radio show “War of the Worlds” spread
histeria through the nation, convincing listeners that
aliens landing in spaceships were attacking Earth.
•Life on Mars?
• In 1976 the Viking Orbiter 1 took pictures of an
ususual rock formation.
• Many people at the time believed that it resembled a
face, therefore proving Mars had once been inhabited!
• Scientists, on the other hand, believe that the “face” is
merely a coincedence--a combination of rock
formation and erosion.
• What do you think?
•Life on Mars?
• Although many scientists claim that Earth is the only
planet that has ever had life, some claim that Martian
meterorites hold fossils and bacteria indicating
otherwise.
• In either case, it appears unlikly that Mars has ever
been home to little green men.
•Works Cited
Images
Star Background and Galaxy
Free Backgrounds http://www.freebackgrounds.com
Mars Digital Image Model, Astronaut,
NSSDC Photo Gallery
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery
-mars.html
Ares