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In August 1877, the American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered the two moons of Mars using a 660 mm (26 in) telescope at the U.S. Naval Observatory. [55] The names of the two satellites, Phobos and Deimos , were chosen by Hall based upon a suggestion by Henry Madan , a science instructor at Eton College in England.
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.
In English, the planet Mars is named after Mars, the Roman god of war, [1] an association made because of its red color, which suggests blood. [2] The adjectival form of Latin Mars is Martius, [3] from which the English word Martian derives, used as an adjective or for a putative inhabitant of Mars, and Martial, used as an adjective corresponding to Terrestrial for Earth. [4]
The timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites charts the progress of the discovery of new bodies over history. Each object is listed in chronological order of its discovery (multiple dates occur when the moments of imaging, observation, and publication differ), identified through its various designations (including temporary and permanent schemes), and the ...
In the summer of 2008, the TEGA and WCL experiments on the 2007 Phoenix Mars lander found between 3–5wt% (percent by weight) calcite (CaCO 3) and an alkaline soil. [65] In 2010, analyses by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit identified outcrops rich in magnesium-iron carbonate (16–34 wt%) in the Columbia Hills of Gusev crater. The magnesium ...
A mineral grain from a meteorite preserved evidence that water was present on Mars 4.45 ... springs were prevalent when magma was helping form the red planet’s crust between 4.48 billion and 4. ...
Both sets of findings support an origin of Phobos from material ejected by an impact on Mars that reaccreted in Martian orbit, [40] similar to the prevailing theory for the origin of Earth's moon. The moons of Mars may have started with a huge collision with a protoplanet one third the mass of Mars that formed a ring around Mars.
On May 14, 2021, China became the second country to ever deploy a rover on the Martian surface. Named Zhurong after the ancient Chinese god of fire, the rover landed on Mars’ Utopia Planitia ...