From time to time, winds on Mars are strong enough to create dust storms, covering most of the planet while taking months for all the dust to settle, a great impediment for space probes.In winter, near the poles temperatures can get down to -195 degrees F / -125 degrees C. On average, the temperature on Mars is about -80 degrees Fahrenheit / -60 degrees Celsius.Northern winter (southern summer) lasts 154 days while northern summer (southern winter) lasts 178 days. Autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in the southern) is the shortest at 142 days. Spring in the northern hemisphere (autumn in the southern) is the longest season lasting 194 days.The seasons vary in length due to Mars’s elliptical, egg-shaped orbit around the Sun. Mars has seasons though they last longer than on Earth since Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun.Mars’s axis of rotation is tilted 25.2 degrees similar to Earth which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees.One rotation/day on Mars is completed within 24.6 hours while a whole trip around the Sun or year, is completed within 669.6 days.Mars has a density of 3.93 g/cm³, lower than Earth’s density, indicating that its core region contains lighter elements.The gravity on Mars is about 38% of Earth’s gravity.Mars has a volume of 1.6318 x 10¹¹ km³ (163 billion cubic kilometers) which is the equivalent of 0.151 Earths.Mars’s mass is 6.42 x 10 23 kilograms, about 10 times less than Earth.The diameter of Mars is 6.779 km or 4.212 mi, slightly more than half the size of Earth.Mars has a radius of 3.389 km or 2.105 mi being twice as small as Earth.The farthest distance from Earth is 401 million km / 249 million mi, and its closest distance to us can be 54.6 million km / 34 million mi, while the average distance is 225 million km / 140 million mi.It takes sunlight about 13 minutes to reach Mars. Mars is 227.9 million km / 141.6 million mi or 1.5 AU away from the Sun.It is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent of both the impact craters of Earth’s Moon, and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.Due to the effects of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars’s surface, it has a reddish appearance distinctive among the astronomical bodies visible to the naked eye.In different cultures, Mars represents masculinity, youth and its symbol is used as the symbol for the male gender. It is named after the Roman god of war due to its red appearance.However, the first person to observe Mars with a telescope was Galileo Galilei in 1610.
Due to its brightness and closeness to Earth, Mars has been documented for at least 4.000 years thus it is impossible to credit someone with its discovery.
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