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| a s t r o n o m y w i t h t r u |
| a s t r o n o m y w i t h t r u |
| a s t r o n o m y w i t h t r u |
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| Mars Fourth Planet From the Sun |
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| Mars - Fourth planet from the sun. In Roman mythology, god of war and discord (Greek name, Ares). NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took the picture on June 26, when Mars was approximately 43 million miles (68 million km) from Earth - the closest it has ever been to Earth since 1988. Hubble can see details as small as 10 miles (16 km) across. The colors have been carefully balanced to give a realistic view. Especially striking is the large amount of seasonal dust storm activity seen in this image of Mars. One large storm system is churning high above the northern polar cap (top of Mars' image), and a smaller dust storm cloud can be seen nearby. Another large dust storm is spilling out of the giant Hellas impact basin in Mars Southern Hemisphere (lower right). Hubble has observed Mars before, but never in such detail. The biennial close approaches of Mars and Earth are not all the same. Mars' orbit around the Sun is markedly elliptical; the close approaches to Earth can range from 35 million to 63 million miles. |
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| Mars Profile |
| Mass (kg) Mars Diameter (km) Mean density (kg/m3) Escape velocity (m/sec) Mars average distance from Sun (AU) Rotation period (length of day in Earth days) Mars revolution period (length of year in Earth days) Obliquity (tilt of axis degrees) Orbit inclination (degrees) Orbit eccentricity (deviation from circular) Maximum surface temperature (K) Minimum surface temperature (K) Visual geometric albedo (reflectivity) Highest point on surface Mars atmospheric components Mars surface materials |
| 6.42 x 1023 6787 3940 5000 1.524 1.026 686.98 25 1.85 0.093 310 150 0.15 Olympus Mons isabout 24 km above surrounding lava plains 95% carbon dioxide,3% nitrogen,1.6% argon basaltic rock and altered materials |
| Moons of Mars |
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