All information about Mars planet
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00:00Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. The surface of Mars is orange-red because it is
00:04covered in iron III oxide dust, giving it the nickname, the Red Planet. Mars is among the
00:10brightest objects in Earth's sky, and its high-contrast albedo features have made it a
00:15common subject for telescope viewing. It is classified as a terrestrial planet and is the
00:20second smallest of the Solar System's planets with a diameter of 6,779 km 4,212 miles.
00:28In terms of orbital motion, a Martian solar day, Sol, is equal to 24.5 hours,
00:34and a Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years, 687 Earth days.
00:40Scientists have theorized that during the Solar System's formation, Mars was created as the result
00:45of a random process of runaway accretion of material from the protoplanetary disk that
00:50orbited the Sun. Mars has many distinctive chemical features caused by its position
00:55in the Solar System. Elements with comparatively low boiling points, such as chlorine, phosphorus,
01:01and sulfur, are much more common on Mars than on Earth. These elements were probably pushed
01:06outward by the young Sun's energetic solar wind. Mars is approximately half the diameter of Earth,
01:12with a surface area only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land.
01:17Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass,
01:23resulting in about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. Mars is the only presently known example of a
01:29desert planet, a rocky planet with a surface akin to that of Earth's hot deserts. The red-orange
01:35appearance of the Martian surface is caused by ferric oxide, or rust. It can look like butterscotch.
01:41Other common surface colors include golden, brown, tan, and greenish, depending on the minerals present.
01:48The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon and 1.89% nitrogen
01:56along with traces of oxygen and water. The atmosphere is quite dusty, containing particulates
02:02about 1.5 micrometers in diameter which give the Martian sky a tawny color when seen from the
02:07surface. Water in its liquid form cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure,
02:14which is less than 1% that of Earth, except at the lowest of elevations for short periods.
02:19The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water. The volume of water ice in the south
02:25polar ice cap, if melted, would be enough to cover the entire surface of the planet with a depth of
02:3011 meters, 36 feet. Large quantities of ice are thought to be trapped within the thick cryosphere
02:36of Mars. Radar data from Mars Express and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter MRO show large quantities
02:43of ice at both poles and at middle latitudes. The Phoenix lander directly sampled water ice in
02:49shallow Martian soil on 31 July 2008. Mars' average distance from the Sun is roughly 230 million
02:57kilometers, 143 million miles, and its orbital period is 687 Earth days. The solar day, or sol,
03:05on Mars is only slightly longer than an Earth day, 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds.
03:13A Martian year is equal to 1.8809 Earth years, or one year, 320 days, and 18.2 hours.
03:21Mars has two relatively small, compared to Earth's, natural moons, Phobos, about 22 kilometers, 14
03:28miles, in diameter, and Deimos, about 12 kilometers, 7.5 miles, in diameter, which orbit close to the
03:34planet. The origin of both moons is unclear, although a popular theory states that they
03:40were asteroids captured into Martian orbit. Both satellites were discovered in 1877.
03:46The history of observations of Mars is marked by oppositions of Mars when the planet is closest to
03:51Earth and hence is most easily visible, which occur every couple of years. Even more notable
03:56are the perihelic oppositions of Mars, which are distinguished because Mars is close to perihelion,
04:02making it even closer to Earth.