Climate of Mars
The climate of Mars has been a topic of scientific curiosity for centuries, in part because it is the only terrestrial planet whose surface can be easily observed in detail from Earth using a telescope. Although Mars is smaller than Earth, with only one-tenth of Earth's mass, and is 50% farther from the Sun than Earth, its climate has important similarities with Earth's, such as the presence of polar ice caps, seasonal changes, and observable weather patterns. It has attracted sustained study from planetologists and climatologists. While Mars' climate has similarities to Earth's, including periodic ice ages, there are also important differences, such as much lower thermal inertia. Mars' atmosphere has a scale height of approximately 11 km (36,000 ft), which is 60% greater than that of Earth. The climate is of considerable relevance to the question of whether life is or ever has been present on the planet. Mars has been studied with Earth-based instruments since the 17th century, but it...
Read on Wikipedia · Image Kevin Gill from Los Angeles, CA, United States, CC BY 2.0
Open boosters, collect cards and trade them. Free to play.
Play for free