Planet 4: Mars
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Mars

View Mars in Celestia

 

Mars, the red planet
Is the Roman god of war
Mars rotates (sunrise to sunrise)
Just like the Earth we adore
So, if you count each Mars hour
You’d get a number
Just a little more that 24

Mars has a surface
Of much oxidized iron dust
Making Mars the king of rust
And if you’re comparing size and speed
Mars is less than us—


Mars is half the diameter of Venus or Earth
Two other planets of almost identical in girth (What’s a girth you say?
It's that belt size about your waist!)

At about half the speed of Mercury
Mars is surely in no hurry
To make the journey around the Sun
It takes almost two Earth years
For Mars to do just one

View Mars' orbit in Celestia

 


View Phobos in Celestia

 

Even though Mars
Is a little small
It has two moons
That it can call
Phobos and Deimos
Even smaller still
Two moonlights for Mars
Oh what a thrill!

View Deimos in Celestia

View Olympus Mons on the surface of Mars in Celestia

 

Mars is certainly no Venus
With her beautiful golden clouds
Mars is all revealed
You can see Mars' mounds so clear
While the surface of Venus is concealed

Olympus Mons
Is the big volcano on Mars
It is the biggest
Anyone has ever seen
Olympus Mons
Is four times bigger
Than any Earthly volcano thing


Check out Mars
It has a north and south pole
Where there are ice caps
Just like here at home

View polar ice caps of Mars in Celestia

 

 

Back Forward

 

Music Complements of Catherine Fowler

Quick facts  
Planet Mars
AU 1.5
Mean Temperature
(C°)
-87/-5
Equatorial Diameter
(km)
6,794
Volume
(Earth=1)
0.149
Mass
(Earth=1)
0.107
Density
(gm/cm3)
3.933
Orbit Velocity
(in km/s)
24
Orbit Time
(Earth Days)
686
Orbit Time
(Earth Years)
1.88
Rotation Time
(Earth Hours)
24.6
Rotation Time
(Earth Days)
1.02
Number of Moons 2

Olympus Mons from Orbit
Olympus Mons from Orbit
Local Copy

The Fogs of Mars
The Fogs of Mars
Local Copy
Celestia Exploration Activity - learn.arc.nasa.gov