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When Mars appeared to pass close by two faint stars with no effect on their brightness, Herschel correctly concluded that this meant that there was little atmosphere around Mars to interfere with their light. [3] Honore Flaugergues's 1809 discovery of "yellow clouds" on the surface of Mars is the first known observation of Martian dust storms. [4]
Many places on Mars show rocks arranged in layers. Rock can form layers in a variety of ways. Volcanoes, wind, or water can produce layers. [8] A detailed discussion of layering with many Martian examples can be found in Sedimentary Geology of Mars. [9] Layers can be hardened by the action of groundwater.
In 2018, it was announced that a subglacial lake was discovered below the south polar ice cap of Mars. The lake was detected by Mars Express orbiter, and is 20 km (10 mi) long, lying under ca. 1.5 km (1 mi) of glacial cover, with water temperature estimated to be −68 °C (−90 °F), and having an extremely salty brine. [220] [221] [222]
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.The surface of Mars is orange-red because it is covered in iron(III) oxide dust, giving it the nickname "the Red Planet". [22] [23] Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth's sky, and its high-contrast albedo features have made it a common subject for telescope viewing.
1995 photo of Mars showing approximate size of the polar caps. The planet Mars has two permanent polar ice caps of water ice and some dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide, CO 2).Above kilometer-thick layers of water ice permafrost, slabs of dry ice are deposited during a pole's winter, [1] [2] lying in continuous darkness, causing 25–30% of the atmosphere being deposited annually at either of the ...
The clouds formed at a level in the atmosphere that was around −65 °C, so the clouds would have to be composed of water-ice, rather than carbon dioxide-ice because the temperature for forming carbon dioxide ice is much lower—less than −120 °C. As a result of the mission, it is now believed that water ice (snow) would have accumulated ...
There are numerous challenges to human settlements on Mars: lack of breathable oxygen, harmful ultraviolet radiation due to its thin atmosphere, salty soil hostile to growing crops, dust storms ...
A variety of lake basins have been discovered on Mars. [142] Some are comparable in size to the largest lakes on Earth, such as the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, and Lake Baikal. Lakes that were fed by valley networks are found in the southern highlands. There are places that are closed depressions with river valleys leading into them.