Planet Mars is one of the most popular planets and often written and spoken in news media. This planet also frequently discussed by a scientist, because this planet has the most similar characteristic with planet Earth compared to the other planets in the solar system.
Even, NASA and other Space Agency have an ambitious spirit to send human race in there to flourish live and multiplying like they do on Earth. Scientists want this planet can be made a second planet that can be inhabited by humans. All about Mars is very interesting to talk about, to know more about this planet, let's see 22 facts about planet Mars Below.
1 | Planet Mars is the second smallest after Mercury. Mercury has a diameter of 4879 km while Mars is 6792 km. The small size of the planet Mars is estimated due to a gap in the sun's nebula near the orbit of Mars when it first formed.
2 | The name of Mars is derived from the god of war in Roman mythology and is considered the god Ares in Greek mythology. Meanwhile, ancient Egyptians called it "Her Desher" which means "the red one".
3 | Mars debris found on Earth. Mars is believed to spread rocky material into space and then become an asteroid that orbits for millions of years before it finally hits Earth.
4 | Mars has a land area that is almost the same with Earth. Although Mars only has 15% of Earth's volume and about 10% more Earth's mass, it is comparable because two-thirds of the Earth's surface is inundated.
5 | The gravity of Mars is only 37% of Earth (meaning you can jump almost three times higher on Mars). Linger on the march can also make muscle strength and mass decreased compared to Earth.
6 | Mars is the home of the highest mountains in our solar system. Olympus Mons is a shield volcano that has a 21 km of height and a 600 km in diameter. The volume is about one hundred times that of Mount Mauna Loa, Hawaii and 3 times higher than Mount Everest.
7 | Mars has the biggest dust storm in the solar system. They can last for months and cover the entire surface of the planet. The season is very extreme because the orbit is elliptical (oval-shaped).
8 | Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last terrestrial planet (made of silicate, rock, metal) which is about 227,940,000 km from the Sun. More than that, planets are in the form of gas.
9 | With 227,840,000 km orbital radius, it takes 687 Earth days for Mars to orbit the Sun. That means if you live there, your birthday will be celebrated 23 months or almost once in 2 years.
10 | Mars have seasons like Earth, but they two times longer. This is because the tilt of Mars on its axis is about 25.19 degrees, which is similar to the axial tilt of the Earth (22.5 degrees).
11 | Mars is believed to be the home of intelligent life. Starting from the discovery of lines or grooves on the surface called Canali by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. He believes that this does not occur naturally and is proof of intelligent life. Because it is not proven later this phenomenon is considered an optical illusion.
12 | This planet emits methane gas. Because on earth usually this gas byproduct of microbial metabolism, this gas is considered a sign of life in the form of microorganisms on the planet Mars.
13 | One day Mars will have a ring. In the next 20-40 million years the largest Martian Moon 'Phobos will be torn apart by the forces of gravity that will create a ring that can last up to 100 million years.
14 | There are watermarks on Mars. For years Mars has been known to have water in the form of ice. The first sign of water droplets is dark lines or stains on the walls of the crater and cliffs seen in satellite images. Based on the Martian atmosphere, those water is likely to be salty so it doesn't freeze or evaporate.
15 | Only 18 missions to Mars succeeded. In 2014, 40 missions to Mars were held, including orbiter, landers, and rover, but some did not reach the destination. Some of the successful ones included the Mars Curiosity mission in 2012, the MAVEN mission, which arrived on 22 September 2014, followed by the MOM Mangalyaan orbiter of the Indian Space Organization, which arrived on 24 September 2014. The European Space Agency's ExoMars mission, consisting of orbiters, landers, and rovers, followed by NASA's InSight robot landing mission, which landed in September 2016.
16 | Mars is the only other planet besides Earth that has polar ice caps. The northern part is called Planum Boreum, the south is Planum Australe. Ice water is also found below the Mars ice sheet.
17 | Mars' natural satellites are not spherical but are like irregular asteroids. Phobos is 22.2 km in diameter and Deimos is 12.6 km.
18 | Mars' atmosphere consists of 96% carbon dioxide, <2% argon,> 2% nitrogen, <1% others. Due to the absence of oxygen, make mars become a barren planet.
19 | The first telescopic observations were made by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Within a century, astronomers discovered the characteristics of albedo on the planet, including the dark areas of the Syrtis Major Planum and polar ice caps.
20 | Mars has a "Swiss Cheese" layer on its poles, this is frozen carbon dioxide. This pattern is created when there is a material that is high enough and smooth which is broken down in sublimated circular patterns.
21 | Mysterious hole in the south pole caught by Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) camera. Its diameter is up to hundreds of meters. But. so far there has been no explanation regarding the cause of this hole. Alien made? You can see the original picture here.
Read also 18 Surprising Fact About Planet Nibiru