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Thursday, December 27, 2012

Mars---The Red Planet.

Mars is the fourth planet from Sun & lies between Earth & Jupiter.It's surface is made up of red soil & thousands of rocks of all sizes.Though small in size,it has the highest mountain,the largest volcano and the deepest & longest valley in our solar system.That's not all.It even has the largest dust storms of all--lasting for months & covering the whole planet.How is that for small sized big achievements?

In many ways Mars is very much like Earth---it rotates in 24.6 hours,has seasons,winds,clouds, morning mist,frozen polar caps,mountains & valleys just like us.

The similarities end here because it's environment is too harsh to support life--
Firstly there is no water.

Secondly temperatures vary a lot.While summer temperature at the equator can be as high as 70*F,it may dip to -220*F at the poles.On the whole it is much colder than Earth.

Thirdly Mars takes nearly twice as long as Earth to orbit Sun.Therefore it's year is double that of Earth & it's seasons too last twice as long.

It's air has very little oxygen,which we all need to breathe.

It has two moons-Phobos & Deimos, while we have only one.

Mars' diameter is about one half of Earth's.It is so small that nearly seven Mars could fit inside Earth.

It's largest volcano Olympus Mons is hundred times as large as the largest volcano on Earth .It is also three times as high as Mount Everest.

Mars can be seen with naked eye because it shines with a bright red light.But we cannot see it when it's orbit takes it away to the other side of Sun.Mars travels round Sun at an average speed of 86871Km/h.Yet when we see it in the sky we cannot discern any movement-amazing isn't it ?

It takes nearly eight months for a spacecraft to reach Mars even if it is launched when Earth is nearest to it.Many probes have visited Mars but no evidence of life has been found.

From the astrological angle Mars as a ruling planet endows the person with courage,vitality,daring & recklessness.

Text courtesy Robin Kerrod
Image courtesy windows2universe.org

23 comments:

  1. Hi Indu,

    Wow, this is good, we're getting to know about the Universe. Thanks for brushing up my science from 10th standard. :) :) :)

    Regards

    Jay
    My Blog | My FB Page

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    Replies
    1. Jai thanks a lot for your support,you spread a lot of cheer.

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  2. thanks once again Indu ji for sharing this information its a big boon and adds to my knowledge bank
    do visit my ----"blind men "
    regards
    rajni

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    Replies
    1. Rajni thank you for this encouraging comment.
      Love,
      Indu.

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  3. I have been away from the blogosphere for some time and missed your earlier posts on the planets...Will catch up soon.This is interesting! :)

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  4. Jaishree i too was wondering where you were.All ok?

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  5. That was very informative. Good comparison between Earth and Mars. Thank you for the post.

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    1. Abhinav welcome to jeeteraho and thank you for this nice comment.

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  6. Excellent .. they do say MEN come from mars , so it was good to learn about it now :)


    Bikram's

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    1. Bikramjit Mars has the largest volcano but Venus is hotter !!!!!!

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    2. I second this.......:) :) :) :)

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    3. Jai thanks for your support,as it turns out-Mars is cooler than Venus.

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  7. Very interesting! A great piece of knowledge!! Thank you Indu:)

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  8. that was quite informative...thanks for sharing....

    wish you a Happy New Year
    stay blessed,
    irfan

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  9. Thank you Irfan.A very happy New Year to you & your own.

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  10. I read the Venus and Mars facts on your blog. Glad that there is Earth and we are surviving on it but sadly, we don't value what we have.

    Wish you a happy new year :)

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    1. Hi Saru,
      A very Happy New Year to you n your dear ones.
      Yes we don't value what we have & are bent on destroying everything.

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  11. Wow..it has two moons??!! I would love to visit Mars just to observe the celestial spectacle!:)))

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  12. Yes,imagine two moons!I wonder how far apart they would be seen.

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  13. Thank you very much for writing such an interesting article on this topic. This has really made me think and I hope to read more. why is mars red

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