Mars Planet Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun, and is named after the Roman god of war; perhaps for its red coloring, to signify blood on the battlefield. Because of this color, Mars is also referred to as the “Red Planet”. When seen in a telescope, Mars does appear red. This red color comes from the oxidation of iron-rich minerals on its surface. You could say that Mars is rusty. The Babylonians also named the planet after their god of war, fire, and destruction. The Greeks also called it after their god of war. Other culture such as the Chinese, Persians, and Japanese, all had references to the planet in ancient texts. Mars orbits at an average distance of 228 million km from the Sun, or 1.52 astronomical units (1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun). It takes 687 days to complete one orbit around the Sun; so its year is approximately twice as long as the Earth’s. It rotates once on its axis every 24.6 hours, so it actually has a very similar day length to Earth. It’s also tilted on its axis by 25.2°, again, similar to the Earth’s 23.4°.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 07:34:42 +0000