Mars

Where Is It?

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, located in between Earth and Jupiter. Mars is much further away from the Sun than Earth, with an average distance of around 140 million miles. The orbit, or path, the planet takes around the Sun is an mild ellipse, or stretched circle, with Mars being about 128 million miles from the Sun at its closest and 154 millions away at its furthest.
Since Mars is so much further away from the Sun than Earth, a Martian year, which is the time it takes to go around the Sun once, is much longer at 687 Earth days. A Martian day, which is the time it takes the planet to spin around once, is a little longer than an Earth day, at 24 hours and 37 minutes.

Can I See It?

Yes you can, and you won't need a telescope. Mars is visible in the early morning sky from fall through early spring, and in the evening sky from spring through early summer. Mars will be a small, rust-colored light in the sky. 

How Big Is It?

Mars, with a diameter of about 4070 miles, is a little more than half the size of Earth. To put it another way, if Earth was the size of a baseball, Mars would be about the size of a golf ball.

How Many Moons Does It Have?

Mars has two very tiny moons, Phobos (top) and Deimos (bottom). The two Martian moons are among the smallest moons in the solar system. Phobos is only about eighteen miles in diameter, while Deimos is even smaller at around nine miles in diameter.
The two Martian moons are actually asteroids, which are small rocky bodies that are scattered throughout our solar system. A very long time ago, the two asteroids that are the moons came close enough to Mars that they were "captured" by Mars gravity. They have been circling the planet ever since.

How Did It Get It's Name?

Mars is named after the Roman god of war, probably due to its red color.

What Is It Made Of?

Mars has a central core, like that of a golf ball, made if iron. In this way, the Red Planet is similar to Earth. On top of the iron core, Mars has a layer of rock, again like Earth, but Mars' rock layer is much thicker than that of Earth. Finally, Mars has a very thin atmosphere, or layer of air, that covers the planet. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that on Earth, but Mars still has weather, including dust storms and clouds.

What's It Like On The Surface?

Mars has a rocky, dusty surface, complete with clouds and dust storms that can cover the whole planet at once. The weather on Mars is very cold, with an average temperature of around ten below zero. During the Martian winter, the temperature gets even colder, and can drop to 160 degrees below zero! During the Martian winter, the planet has ice caps at the north and south poles like Earth does. The difference is that these caps are made of frozen carbon dioxide, or "dry ice".
Mars also has mountains, sandy deserts and many, many inactive volcanoes. Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, which is over 45,000 feet tall, much higher than Mount Everest, and is over 600 miles wide at its base. There are also many canyons on Mars, including the one in the picture at right, Valles Marineris, which is over two thousand miles long and deep enough to hold a mountain range.

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