Mars Mars means: Mars was the Roman god of war and agriculture. It may not seem like these two things go together, but they do. Mars protected those who fought for their communities, and stayed home to raise crops for food. In Greek, Mars was known as Ares. How much would you weigh on Mars? The Planet Mars excites scientists because its mild temperament is more like the Earth's than any of the other planets. You may sometimes hear Mars referred to as the "Red Planet." Exploration At first, the only way modern explorers could study Mars was with satellites that would fly close to the surface of Mars and take pictures as it did so. As scientific technology became more advanced, scientists were able to put spacecraft into orbit around the Red Planet. Then, as technology advanced even more, scientists and researchers were able to actually land spacecraft on the surface of Mars. What if humans went to Mars? Moons: Mars has two moons, their names are Deimos and Phobos.
Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets. It is sometimes referred to as the world or the Blue Planet.[23] Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its surface within its first billion years.[24] Earth's biosphere then significantly altered the atmospheric and other basic physical conditions, which enabled the proliferation of organisms as well as the formation of the ozone layer, which together with Earth's magnetic field blocked harmful solar radiation, and permitted formerly ocean-confined life to move safely to land.[25] The physical properties of the Earth, as well as its geological history and orbit, have allowed life to persist. Name and etymology In general English usage, the name earth can be capitalized or spelled in lowercase interchangeably, either when used absolutely or prefixed with "the" (i.e. Heat
Mysteriously dark Mars regions are made of glass - space - 15 April 2012 THEY look dark, but mysterious expanses on Mars are mainly made of glass forged in past volcanoes. The dark regions make up more than 10 million square kilometres of the Martian northern lowlands, but their composition wasn’t clear. Past spectral measurements indicated that they are unlike dark regions found elsewhere on the Red Planet, which consist mainly of basalt. Briony Horgan and Jim Bell of Arizona State University in Tempe analysed near-infrared spectra of the regions, gathered by the Mars Express orbiter. They found absorption bands characteristic of the iron in volcanic glass, a shiny substance similar to obsidian that forms when magma cools too fast for its minerals to crystallise (Geology, DOI: 10.1130/G32755.1). The glass likely takes the form of sand-sized grains, as it does in glass-rich fields in Iceland. On Earth, such rinds coat volcanic glass weathered by water. More on these topics:
Venus Venus is a terrestrial planet and is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" because of their similar size, gravity, and bulk composition (Venus is both the closest planet to Earth and the planet closest in size to Earth). However, it has also been shown to be very different from Earth in other respects. It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more than 96% carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 92 times that of Earth's. Physical characteristics Venus is one of the four terrestrial planets in the Solar System, meaning that, like Earth, it is a rocky body. Geography The Venusian surface was a subject of speculation until some of its secrets were revealed by planetary science in the 20th century. Most Venusian surface features are named after historical and mythological women.[26] Exceptions are Maxwell Montes, named after James Clerk Maxwell, and highland regions Alpha Regio, Beta Regio and Ovda Regio. Surface geology
Did Ancient Mars Have a Runaway Greenhouse? Cosmic impacts that once bombed Mars might have sent temperatures skyrocketing upward on the Red Planet in ancient times, enough to set warming of the surface on a runaway course, researchers say. According to scientists, these findings could potentially help explain how this cold, dry world might have once sustained liquid water, conditions potentially friendly for life. The largest craters still visible on Mars were created about 3.7 billion to 4.1 billion years ago. The origin of these immense craters roughly coincides with when many branching Martian river valley networks apparently formed. Now these researchers find this heating might not have been fleeting. The idea of runaway warming is most commonly associated with Venus. The researchers note the many giant impacts Mars experienced might have heated the planet enough to send vast amounts of the the greenhouse gases water and carbon dioxide into the air.
Neptune Neptune is similar in composition to Uranus, and both have compositions which differ from those of the larger gas giants, Jupiter, and Saturn. Neptune's atmosphere, while similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in that it is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, contains a higher proportion of "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane. Astronomers sometimes categorise Uranus and Neptune as "ice giants" in order to emphasise these distinctions.[10] The interior of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is primarily composed of ices and rock.[11] It is possible that the core has a solid surface, but the temperature would be thousands of degrees and the atmospheric pressure crushing.[12] Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet's blue appearance.[13] In contrast to the hazy, relatively featureless atmosphere of Uranus, Neptune's atmosphere is notable for its active and visible weather patterns. History Naming
Ice Sculptures Fill The Deepest Parts of Mars Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter Curious "lava lamp" landforms in Mars' Hellas Basin may have been created by ice. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona One of the “weirdest and least understood” areas of Mars, the enormous Hellas Impact Basin contains strange flowing landforms that bespeak of some specialized and large-scale geologic process having taken place. The HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recently captured the image above, showing what’s being called “lava lamp terrain” — stretched and contorted surface that looks like overworked modeling clay or pulled taffy… or, with a bit of imagination, the melted, mesmerizing contents of a party light from another era. At 1,400 miles (2,300 km) across, Mars’ Hellas Basin is one of the largest impact craters in the entire Solar System. Although the texture at first appears as if it could be volcanic in origin, it’s thought that flowing water or ice may actually be the source.
Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It has the third-largest planetary radius and fourth-largest planetary mass in the Solar System. Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and both are of different chemical composition than the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn. For this reason, astronomers sometimes place them in a separate category called "ice giants". Uranus's atmosphere, although similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and helium, contains more "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of hydrocarbons.[12] It is the coldest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System, with a minimum temperature of 49 K (−224.2 °C), and has a complex, layered cloud structure, with water thought to make up the lowest clouds, and methane the uppermost layer of clouds.[12] In contrast, the interior of Uranus is mainly composed of ices and rock.[11] History Discovery The power I had on when I first saw the comet was 227. Naming Name Axial tilt
Is This Proof of Life on Mars? Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter View of Mars from Viking 2 lander, September 1976. (NASA/JPL-Caltech) The Curiosity rover is currently on its way to Mars, scheduled to make a dramatic landing within Gale Crater in mid-August and begin its hunt for the geologic signatures of a watery, life-friendly past. But… has it already been found? Researchers from universities in Los Angeles, California, Tempe, Arizona and Siena, Italy have published a paper in the International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences (IJASS) citing the results of their work with data obtained by NASA’s Viking mission. The twin Viking 1 and 2 landers launched in August and September of 1975 and successfully landed on Mars in July and September of the following year. A six-inch-deep trench in the Martian soil dug by Viking 1 in February 1977. The results, although promising, were inconclusive. The team’s paper can be found here. Image credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Mercury (planet) Mercury is gravitationally locked and rotates in a way that is unique in the Solar System. As seen relative to the fixed stars, it rotates exactly three times for every two revolutions[b] it makes around its orbit.[13] As seen from the Sun, in a frame of reference that rotates with the orbital motion, it appears to rotate only once every two Mercurian years. An observer on Mercury would therefore see only one day every two years. Because Mercury's orbit lies within Earth's orbit (as does Venus's), it can appear in Earth's sky in the morning or the evening, but not in the middle of the night. Internal structure Internal structure of Mercury: 1. Mercury's density can be used to infer details of its inner structure. Mercury's core has a higher iron content than that of any other major planet in the Solar System, and several theories have been proposed to explain this. Alternatively, Mercury may have formed from the solar nebula before the Sun's energy output had stabilized. Surface geology
Saturn Saturn's interior is probably composed of a core of iron, nickel and rock (silicon and oxygen compounds), surrounded by a deep layer of metallic hydrogen, an intermediate layer of liquid hydrogen and liquid helium and an outer gaseous layer.[15] The planet exhibits a pale yellow hue due to ammonia crystals in its upper atmosphere. Electrical current within the metallic hydrogen layer is thought to give rise to Saturn's planetary magnetic field, which is weaker than Earth's magnetic field but has a magnetic moment 580 times that of the Earth due to Saturn's larger body radius. Saturn's magnetic field strength is around one-twentieth the strength of Jupiter's.[16] The outer atmosphere is generally bland and lacking in contrast, although long-lived features can appear. Wind speeds on Saturn can reach 1,800 km/h (1,100 mph), faster than on Jupiter, but not as fast as those on Neptune.[17] Physical characteristics Composite image roughly comparing the sizes of Saturn and Earth Atmosphere