7 Cool facts about Mars that you may not know

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Today we are going to talk about some unknown facts about our very next planet Mars.

Before we start, if you didn’t see our previous parts then you can read them from here.

So, let’s start-

Distance from the sun?

As we all know that Mars is the 4th closest planet to the sun. So, many of you can think that what is the special of the distance of Mars from the sun. Though it is the fourth planet from the sun, it is still at an average distance of 227 million kilometres from the sun.
Why is it so special?
If we compare with our(Earth’s) positioning, Mars is approximately 78 million kilometres further than we are. Because Mars’ orbital is more elliptical than ours.
The red planet is approximately 249 million kilometres away from the sun, at its aphelion or at its furthest point from the sun. And during perihelion or the closest point from the sun, Mars will 206 million kilometres away.

Colour of Mars:

The surface of this planet is distinguished reddish colour, quite similar to the colour of rust; and the reason may actually be quite similar to why rust looks as it does. The largest factor behind Mars’ red hue is the high levels of iron oxide found in its surface material.

But how so much of the iron becomes oxidized in an atmosphere, comprised of only 0.146% oxygen?
Well, scientists point to several theories, including rainstorms in Mars’ younger years, a billion years of sunlight breaking down carbon dioxide into oxidants or heavy dust storms breaking down quartz crystals to expose oxygen-rich surfaces.

Size of Mars:

Mars is the second smallest planet with a radius of 3397 km. It is shocking right! but true.

To clear your doubt-
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, is the smallest planet with a radius of 1516 miles (2440 km). The second planet in the solar system, Venus is the third smallest planet with a radius of 3761 miles (6052 km). Earth, of course, is the third closest planet to the Sun and the fourth smallest with a radius of 3963 miles (6378 km). Just after Earth i.e. Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system and the second-smallest planet with a radius of 2111 miles (3397 km).

Mars measures up around 21344 km in circumference making it significantly smaller than the earth. Where Earth’s circumference is around 40070 km. For your better knowledge, around six Mars is could fit inside the earth.

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Mars vs Earth:

  1. Mars is about 15% of the Earth’s volume yet only 11% of Earth’s mass. That means it is not only smaller than the earth but also denser than the earth.
  2. Despite that Mars is smaller than Earth, the two planets actually have roughly the same amount of land. This is because around 2/3 of the earth is covered in oceans.

Gravity:

Because of Mars’ diminished size, the gravity on it is less than 40% of the earth.

So, if you think that your weight is too much then that’s not your fault, you are just on the wrong planet.(trying to be funny😅😅)

Naming the planet:

We know it more commonly by the same name as the Roman God of War, Mars has several different names. Like the Romans, Greece associated the red planet with their God of War, Ares while East Asian cultures consider it the “fire star”. Mars was first observed via telescope by none other than Galileo in 1609 or 1610.

That’s all. Thanks for reading.

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Snehasish Konger
Snehasish Konger

Snehasish Konger is the founder of Scientyfic World. Besides that, he is doing blogging for the past 4 years and has written 400+ blogs on several platforms. He is also a front-end developer and a sketch artist.

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