Are we really alone? According to the latest study, most people in the United States (more than 60% of the study) believe in extraterrestrial life. The universe is just too big for Earth to be the sole planet to support life. In fact, we can look to

Astrobiology, a study of possible life outside Earth, is an authentic and formalized field of science. NASA has funded programs to find extraterrestrial life in the universe. So far, the science has still a lot to learn and discover, and we can only speculate for now.

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Terrestrial planets have similar structures – a core composed of heavy metals which is usually iron, solid surfaces of craters, canyons, mountains and volcanoes and secondary atmospheres (generated through volcanic activity and comet impacts), as opposed to the gas giants which has primary atmospheres (captured directly from the original nebula). Note that while the moon has similar structure, it doesn't have an iron core. Plutoids are also similar to terrestrial planets in that they have solid surfaces; but instead or rocky surfaces, they are composed of icy materials.

Mercury is one dense planet composed of iron and nickel, with a very thin atmosphere. Venus has a thick atmosphere, mostly of carbon dioxide, which causes a greenhouse effect. Earth has the highest density among these planets with an atmosphere composed of elements that are conducive for human habitation and Mars has a rocky red surface and a thin atmosphere. Note that among these 4, only Earth and Mars has moons; Earth has one and Mars has two). Extra-solar terrestrial planets are the subject of much interest, as people naturally want to know of the existence of other planets that are habitable for humans, or for the theoretical extraterrestrial beings.

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Mars is quite similar to the planet Earth when it comes to its appearance. It owns in its atmosphere clouds and polar ice caps. Like our planet, it also has weather conditions that are based on seasonal patterns. Canyons, volcanoes and any other features that may be recognizable when compared to the Earth is also available in the planet. The planet’s orbit lies in between the asteroid belt and the Earth’s orbit.

As far as the planet Mars’ features are concerned, you can imagine a pink or red hue when it comes to its land and sky. Usually, the color of its appearance may be yellow, reddish or orange and its brightness may vary more in comparison to the other planets over the orbits’ course. But it has been said however that the color of Mars is actually closer to butterscotch and its redness is just a result of dust from its atmosphere.

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Mars

The name of the planet comes from its reddish color, reminiscent of the Greek god of war, Ares. Scientifically speaking, Mars gets its reddish color due to the oxidized iron in its soil. Because of its bright red color making it quite distinguishable from the Earth, Mars is visible to the naked eye just like planets Venus and Jupiter that are bigger planets. Even though Mars is almost just as big as Mercury, because of its brightness, Mars is easily picked out by people without using a telescope.

The surface of the Red Planet is said to be very similar to the Earth’s moon. Mars has had its share of asteroid hits which is evident in the craters found on the surface. Evidence on Mars’ moon Phobos and Deimos which are believed to be captured asteroids because of their irregularity in shape and size. Besides iron, the surface of Mars also holds nutrients such as magnesium, chloride, potassium and sodium. But despite this, scientist have tested the PH level of the planets soil and has found out that the soil is actually quite pretty basic and can even allow for the growth of living organisms and even plants such as asparagus.

Panoramic View of Mars

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In 1959, rumors spread that Mars’s moons are actually artificial satellites. This was started when Walter Scott Houston published an article in the Great Planets Observer as an April fool’s joke. According to Houston, a Dr. Arthur Hyall of the University of Sierras discovered the true nature of the two small moons. Of course, Dr. Hyall and the University of Sierras didn’t actually exist. However, IIosif Shklovsky, a scientist from Russia, agreed with the article giving Houston’s article worldwide attention. It was nothing but a giant hoax that went out of proportion.

Both Phobos and Deimos were discovered on August 1877 by Asaph Hall, an astronomer at the US Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. Hall first discovered Deimos on August 12, 1877 and Phobos 6 days later. A Science Master from Eton College in England named Henry Madan suggested the name “Phubus and Deimus” after the entities of Fear (Phobos) and Dread (Deimos) summoned by Ares also known as the Roman god of war, Mars.

Phobos – Has a radius of 11.1 kilometers and is the larger Martian satellite. It orbits closely around Mars and it moves even faster than Mars can rotate on its own axis. It rises in the west and after a little more than 4 hours it already sets on the east. According to scientists, the orbital radius of Phobos is steadily decreasing and it’s only a matter of time until it is either fragmented and forms a planetary ring or it clashes with Mars.

Deimos – Has a radius of only 6.2 kilometers. Some scientists theorize that Deimos, like Phobos, were asteroids that got pulled into Mars’s orbit due to the gravitational force of the red planet. These are two large craters on the surface of Deimos that measures 3 kilometers each – Swift and Voltaire.

Phobos and Deimos

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Strictly speaking, no one actually discovered Mars. Or, rather, there is no specific person who pointed out that Mars existed. Out of the seven other planets in the solar system, five is visible from the Earth. These five—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn—have been known to exist ever since the pre-historic era. The fact that these objects were actually planets and just like Earth isn’t known, needless to say. At some point, some astrologers surmised that these planets were stars.

Of course, there were earlier observations of the red planet (named after the god of war in Roman mythology). Perhaps the earliest of these observations were those made by the astronomers of ancient Egypt. On the other hand, the Babylonian astronomers of the Neo-Babylonian Empire already knew that the behavior and positions of the planet. Because of this, they already hypothesized that Mars is farther from the Sun than the Earth and that it takes the planet more time to make a complete circuit around the Sun.

During the third century, Aristotle, the renowned Greek philosopher, noticed that Mars disappeared behind the Moon during what is now known as an occultation. Chinese astronomers have known and written about Mars as early as the fourth century. Continuous probe on Mars is still being done since it is the planet closest to Earth. The Mars Science Laboratory will be the next mission to be sent to the planet, to be launched in 2011.

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Mars’ atmosphere

Carbon Dioxide makes up the predominant gas in Mar’s atmosphere. It makes up about 95% of the atmosphere with other gasses like nitrogen composing 3%. Argon makes up 1.6% and the remaining percentages make up traces of water, oxygen and methane. The existence of methane has led some scientists to believe that some forms of life exist on mars. Dust fills the atmosphere so the sky above mars has a rusty color.

Mars’ atmosphere is composed of four regions, the Lower Atmosphere, Middle Atmosphere, Upper Atmosphere and the Exosphere. The Lower Atmosphere is warm because it is affected by the heat from the ground and from airborne dust. The Middle Atmosphere is composed of a jet stream. The Upper Atmosphere is also known as the Thermosphere. The temperature in this region is very high because of heating from the sun. The gasses in this part of the atmosphere separate. The Exosphere starts at 200 kilometers (120 mi) above. This is where mars atmosphere stops and space begins.

Evidence has been found to suggest that the atmosphere of Mars has changed over the course of a few billion years. The Mars Ocean Hypothesis even goes so far as to suggest that Mars was once made up entirely of water due to the current atmospheric pressure found in Mars today. At the moment only solid and vapor forms of water may exist on the higher parts of Mars. There was once a time when Mars was conducive to hold water but that changed due changing factors.

Something about Mars

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On 1659, a person named Christian Huygens was able to discover a feature that is strange in the Red Planet’s surface, which was later referred to as Syrtis Major. In the year 1802, a scientist was too convinced about the presence of life in planet Mars and on 1877, an astronomer named as Giovanni Schiaparelli made the discovery of what he viewed and believed as numerous lines that cross one another. He later claimed that such lines were actually water canals created by intelligent creatures in Mars.

Mariner 9 made a visit on Mars last 1971 and it discovered the Olympus Mons, which is considered the most popular volcano. This volcano is too massive that it can cover the entire state of Missouri. The visit also found proofs of the fact that water had once flowed on the Red Planet but the famous canals claimed by Schiaparelli were still left without proof. The visit did not see sights of these canals.

Spacecrafts referred to as Viking I and II were able to land the planet Mars for the purpose of studying its surface. They made analysis of the soil and rocks present within the planet and provided information regarding its weather patterns and atmosphere. Until today, Mars is still being explored for the purpose of finding information still unknown about the planet.

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Mars’ axial tilt is 25.19 degrees, which is quite similar to that of our own planet and in this way, seasons in Mars are very much like the seasons that we have here on Earth. However, on Mars, they are almost twice as long because of the fact that the planet has significantly longer years compared to us. At the moment, the orientation of Mars’ North Pole is close to Deneb.

The planet has passed its perihelion in April 2009 and its aphelion in May 2007. It would reach its next perihelion in May 2011. Mars has a rather pronounced orbital eccentricity, which is about 0.09, compared to the other planets in the Solar System. The only other planet that shows greater eccentricity would be Mercury. For the last 35,000 years, Mars’ orbit has grown even more eccentric due to the gravitation effects that the other planets have on it. In fact, the closest distance between our planet and Mars would continuously decrease for the next 25,000 years.

As for its moons, Mars has two tiny natural ones. Phobos and Deimos orbit quite close to the planets. Currently, from what scientists know of their composition, it is believed that both moons were captured asteroids but this has never been completely ascertained nor confirmed.

More about the Planet Mars

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Mars

To illustrate these characteristics, Mars density is similar to that of the Earth’s moon. Mars is just 4/5 of the earth’s density.

Because Mars has less mass than Earth, the force of gravity on Mars is lesser as well. The gravity on Mars is 3/8 less than the force of gravity on earth. Thus something that would normally weight 100 pounds on earth would only weigh a measly 38 pounds on Mars. People who want to lose weight will have a jolly old time in Mars. Although it is important to note that weight is quite different from mass.

Mass is what makes up the object while weight is the force which gravity pulls you down towards the center of a planet. In this case, if you were to stand on Mars, you may weigh less but your body mass will remain the same.

The force of gravity on Mars is even smaller than it is on Mercury! Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System but it denser than Mars. Size and density is not interrelated in such a way that one would be affected by the other.

A Day on Mars – 1977

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