Mars (Planet)

Mars, named after the Roman god of war, is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the inner terrestrial planets. Out of all the planets of the Solar System Mars is the most 'Earth-like' having a thin atmosphere, polar icecaps, an axial tilt similar to Earth's and a similar length of day. That said it is still a pretty inhospitable place so only space probes have landed there so far. Through a low power telescope Mars may appear as a rusty orange/red coloured disc with patches of grey.

Valles Marineris - An enormous "canyon-like" fissure

Olympus Mons - The largest Volcano in the solar system

Utopia Planitia - Largest recognized impact basin

Syrtis Major - An albedo feature

Valles Marineris
Credit: NASA/JPL/USGS

Olympus Mons
Credit: NASA/JPL

Utopia Planitia
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Syrtis Major (circled green)
Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Mean distance from Sun 1.524 a.u.

Sidereal Period 686.980 days

Rotation Period 24 hours 37' 22.6"

Mass 0.107 Earth

Diameter 6787 km

The Astronomical symbol for the planet Mars is represented by the symbol ♂ and can be used in HTML web pages by inserting the following code ♂