Mars it is the fourth closest planet to the Sun. The planet Mars has earned the nickname of the Red Planet because the surface of the planet appears barren and also reddish in color, as mentioned by the book Student and general encyclopedia by Gamal Komandoko.
Also, quoting from the book Super comprehensive summary of natural sciences di Sartono, SPd Yes, the size of the planet Mars is smaller than the Earth, its diameter is about 6,800 km or half the diameter of the Earth.
Meanwhile, the distance between Mars and the Sun is 228 million km, with a revolution period of 687 days and a rotation period of 24.6 hours. Mars has two satellites namely Phobos and Deimos. Meanwhile, the distance from Mars to Earth, according to the Lapan website, varies between 54.6 million kilometers and 102.1 million kilometers, depending on whether or not Mars is in opposition to the sun.
The Phobos satellite was discovered on August 11, 1877, while Deimos was discovered on August 11, 1879. Phobos is the closest satellite to Mars at 9,370 km, while Deimos is 23,500 km from the Red Planet.
Within 50 million years, the two satellites will crash into the surface of Mars or break apart to form a ring structure surrounding the planet, as quoted by the book Mini-encyclopedia: the universe by Yusup Somadinata.
The reason why it is called the red planet
Mars is also called the Red Planet because when the air is clean and clear (sunny weather) Mars appears red. This is caused by the reddish dust containing iron (III) oxide on the surface of the planet Mars.
The dust is blown by winds or storms with speeds of 20 km/h around the planet, as quoted by the book Introduction to astronomy by Muhammad Hadi Bashori.
planetary surface Mars
Quoted from the book Geography: revealing the phenomena of the geosphere by Ahmad Yani, there are many giant volcanoes on the planet Mars. One of them is Olympus Mons, the highest mountain on Mars reaching 24 km (three times higher than Everest) with a width of 500-600 km.
The width of the caldera formed by the eruption billions of years ago is about 80 kilometers. Besides Olympus Mons, there are several other volcanoes including those that have been extinguished, including Arsia Mons, Ascraeus Mons and Pavonis Mons. The location of these mountains is in the Tharsis Plateau with a length of 4,000 km and a altitude of 4,000 km.
The surface of the planet is dry and rocky, the highlands of Mars are covered in craters, while most of the mainland is covered in lava flows, as quoted by the book Space by Ian Braham.
On the other hand, the planet Mars has two polar deserts of frozen ice and gas, as mentioned in the book All about the Universe by Azzurrino Riski.
The north pole of Mars has an ice sheet with a diameter of 1,000 km with an ice sheet thickness of approximately 2 km and containing 1.6 million cubic km of ice. When Mars’ north pole melts, water will cover the planet up to 7 meters deep. Meanwhile, the ice sheet at Mars’ south pole is about 350 km in diameter with a thickness of about 3 km.
The northern hemisphere of Mars experienced impacts caused by giant meteors along 1,900 km four billion years ago. The impact created the largest crater measuring 10,600 km x 8,500 km. Later, the crater turned into a valley called Bonneville.
Seasons on Mars
Quoted from the book Atmospheric physics by dr. Indri Dayana, Mars’ axis of rotation is also tilted 25 degrees from its orbit. This has led to Mars having several seasons like Earth.
The seasons on Mars are twice as long as on Earth because Mars’ orbit is larger than Earth’s and Mars is farther from the sun.
Atmosphere of the planet Mars
As quoted from the book Solar system by Sema Gul and Yudhistira Publishers, the planet Mars is a dead planet on which there are no living beings on Mars. The main reason is because the Martian atmosphere is a thick mixture of toxic gases containing carbon dioxide, so it is impossible for living things to breathe and need respiratory assistance.
Also, the planet Mars has no water and the temperature of the planet is around 550 C (55 degrees Celsius) and there are hurricanes and desert storms that last for months. During the day, temperatures at the equator reach 100 C (10 degrees Celsius).
However, since there is no atmosphere to protect it, the night temperature drops dramatically to -750C (minus 75 degrees Celsius), while at the poles on Mars the temperature is around -1300C (minus 130 degrees Celsius). This temperature is lower than the atmospheric pressure of Mars, causing the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to freeze. Therefore, at the poles of the planet Mars there is carbon dioxide ice.
Watch a video “Exploring Mars ends up leaving space junk out“
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