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[1] [2] The planet orbits the Sun in 687 days [3] and travels 9.55 AU in doing so, [4] making the average orbital speed 24 km/s. The eccentricity is greater than that of every other planet except Mercury, and this causes a large difference between the aphelion and perihelion distances—they are respectively 1.666 and 1.381 AU.
The average duration of the day-night cycle on Mars — i.e., a Martian day — is 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35.244 seconds, [3] equivalent to 1.02749125 Earth days. [4] The sidereal rotational period of Mars—its rotation compared to the fixed stars—is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22.66 seconds. [4]
The length of time for Mars to complete one orbit around the Sun in respect to the stars, its sidereal year, is about 686.98 Earth solar days (≈ 1.88 Earth years), or 668.5991 sols. Because of the eccentricity of Mars' orbit, the seasons are not of equal length.
As if that isn’t cool enough, you can also see 100% of Mars’ disk lit up by the sun that night—AKA the entire face of Mars will be visible. Related: How to Organize Your Weekly Schedule ...
Mars sky at sunset, as imaged by the Spirit rover (May, 2005). Mars sky at sunset, as imaged by the Curiosity rover (February 2013; Sun simulated by artist). The seasonal lag on Mars is no more than a couple of days, [1] due to its lack of large bodies of water
The Sun-synodic orbital period of Deimos of about 30.4 hours exceeds the Martian solar day ("sol") of about 24.7 hours by such a small amount that 2.48 days (2.41 sols) elapse between its rising and setting for an equatorial observer. From Deimos-rise to Deimos-rise (or setting to setting), 5.466 days (5.320 sols) elapse.
NASA has produced a stunning video montage of 393 days' activity of the sun taken by its Solar Dynamic Observatory
Currently, a return journey to Mars can take up to two years, with crew members having to wait a full year for the planets to realign, but with ion propulsion -- which uses electricity to ...