Mars
Mythology
If you have ever seen Mars, then you can probably understand why it is named after the god of war. Its blood red color can be seen by the naked eye. This color is not often found in stars. However, Antares (alpha Scorpius), is a rare red star. Antares literally translates to “rival of Mars”.
 Facts
Mars’ day is only slightly longer ours, at 24.6 hours. However, since it is a superior planet (outside of Earth’s orbit), it has much longer to travel, and its year is 687 Earth days.Mars also has some amazing geography. Not only does it have the largest volcano, Mons Olympus (Mt Olympus, home of the gods), but it also has the largest valley, Valles Marinaris. Mons Olympus is wider than the state Arizona, and Valles Marinaris is longer than the whole United States! Not bad for a planet that is actually smaller than the Earth with a diameter of 6,786 km (.532 Earth’s diameter). Valles Marinaris is named after the space satellite that took the first picture of it, Mariner 4. Another interesting feature of Mars is its polar caps. There is a lot of speculation about Mars’ polar caps. Some scientists have even gone as far as to say that there is water on the Mars, and that one of the polar caps is made of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice), while the other is water.
Viewing Mars
Viewing Mars can differ in difficulty depending on what time you do it. Mars can be anywhere between 35 million and 62 million miles away from the Earth at one time, making it extremely bright at times and dimmer at others. Mars also has two satellites, Phobos and Deimos. They are both irregular moons that were appropriately named after the god Mars’ two dogs. They are only visible with large telescopes.
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