Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second closest planet to Earth after Venus. Mars is sometimes known as The Red Planet because of the presence of rust in its soil. There is a lot to know about The Red Planet but in this article let's explore the 10 most important facts about Mars.
1. Mars has less than 1 percent of the Earth's atmosphere.
Due to less atmosphere on Mars, the temperature difference between day and night is very high. The temperature can be +27 degrees celsius during the day and -133 degrees celsius during the night.
2. The tallest volcano of the solar system is present on Mars.
Olympus Mons is the tallest volcano of our solar system but it may not be active at present. It is 25 km tall, about three times the height of Mount Everest, and its base is 700 km in diameter, about the size of the country Spain.
3. The largest canyon system of the solar system is also present on Mars.
Valles Marineris is an enormous canyon system on Mars. It is more than 4000 km long, 200 km wide, and up to 7 km deep. Valles Marineris is about 9 times longer and 4 times deeper than Earth's Grand Canyon.
4. Mars has two very small moons.
Phobos and Deimos are the two tiny moons of Mars. Phobos and Deimos have a radius of 11.2 km and 6.2 km respectively. For comparison, Earth's moon has a radius of more than 1,700 km.
5. Mars is the second smallest planet of our solar system after Mercury.
Mars has just about one-tenth of the Earth's mass and about one-seventh of the Earth's volume. It has less mass means it has less gravity too. An individual weighing 100 kg on Earth, will weigh only 38 kg on Mars.
6. Mars and Earth have almost equal land area.
Earth is about 70 percent covered underwater. The remaining, continents of the Earth have about the same surface area as Mars.
7. The largest dust storms in the solar system occurs on Mars.
Sometimes, Mars deals with dust storms for months.
8. One day, Mars will have a ring.
Phobos is orbiting Mars so close that the gravity of Mars is constantly pulling it nearer to the planet. When Phobos will move into the Roche limit ( about 3,600 km above the surface of Mars) then it will be torn apart and it'll eventually develop into a small ring around Mars.
9. Sunsets on Mars are blue.
Martian Dusts are accountable for the blue sunsets. Martian dust scatters the sunlight. The scale of those dust particles allows blue light to pierce the Martian atmosphere slightly more efficiently.
10. Mars once had a water ocean.
According to NASA, Mars once had an ocean covering 19 percent of the planet's surface, about 4.3 billion years ago.