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Sol (borrowed from the Latin word for sun) is a solar day on Mars; that is, a Mars-day. A sol is the apparent interval between two successive returns of the Sun to the same meridian (sundial time) as seen by an observer on Mars. It is one of several units for timekeeping on Mars. A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day.
The term started being used in 2004 as the Mars Exploration Rovers' (MER) solar panels started to benefit from these events. [2] The rovers were expected to last about 90 sols (Martian days) on Mars, after which dust would cover their solar panels and reduce solar power to levels too low for the rovers to operate.
When accounting solar days on Earth, astronomers often use Julian dates—a simple sequential count of days—for timekeeping purposes. An analogous system for Mars has been proposed "[f]or historical utility with respect to the Earth-based atmospheric, visual mapping, and polar-cap observations of Mars, ... a sequential count of sol-numbers".
The basic time periods from which the calendar is constructed are the Martian solar day (sometimes called a sol) and the Martian vernal equinox year.The sol is 39 minutes 35.244 seconds longer than the Terrestrial solar day, and the Martian vernal equinox year is 668.5907 sols in length (which corresponds to 686.9711 days on Earth).
At the start of the mission the solar panels could provide up to around 900 watt-hours (Wh) per day to recharge the battery and power system in one Sol, but this could vary due to a variety of factors. [42] In Eagle crater the cells were producing about 840 Wh per day, but by Sol 319 in December 2004, it had dropped to 730 Wh per day. [44]
Solar panels of the spare rover, Marie Curie. See also batteries installed on the rover. Sojourner had solar panels and a non-rechargeable lithium-thionyl chloride (LiSOCl 2) battery that could provide 150 watt-hours and allowed limited nocturnal operations. Once the batteries were depleted, the rover could only operate during the day.
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This is a disambiguation page. Among the many other definitions, it gives “the duration of a solar day on Mars”. No mention about sol meaning solar day in general. Thus, either you provide a reliable source to be quoted as a reference for A (sol = solar day in general), or we keep B (sol = solar day on Mars), which is consistent with the ...
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