1. ALL ABOUT MARS By Bintu Sylla

2. CONTENTS 1.What is Mars? 2.The Discovery of the planet. 3.Orbiting around the Sun 4.What is the Atmosphere like? 5.How come it’s red? 6.Why is it named after a roman god? 7.Acknowledgements

3. 1. WHAT IS MARS? Marsmore than 142 million miles from the sun. And Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is more than 142 million miles from the sun. And the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war., it is often referred to as the "Red Planet. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.

4. 2. THE DISCOVERY OF THE PLANET Mariner 9 made a visit on Mars last 1971 and it discovered the Olympus Mons, which is considered the most popular volcano. This volcano is too massive that it can cover the entire state of Missouri. The visit also found proofs of the fact that water had once flowed on the Red Planet but the famous canals claimed by Schiaparelli were still left without proof. The visit did not see sights of these canals

5. 3. ORBITING AROUND THE SUN Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and orbits the Sun at an average distance of approximately 141 million miles (225 million km). Mars rotates on its axis, completing one revolution every 24.6 hours. The axis of Mars is tilted at 25 degrees and 12 minutes relative to its orbital plane about the Sun. This produces seasons on the surface of Mars, similar to the seasons on Earth. Mars completes one orbital revolution around the Sun every 1.88 Earth years.

6. 4. WHAT IS THE ATMOSPHERE LIKE? The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times thinner than Earth's, and it is 95 percent carbon dioxide. Here's a breakdown of its composition: o Carbon dioxide: 95.32 percent o Nitrogen: 2.7 percent o Argon: 1.6 percent o Oxygen: 0.13 percent o Carbon monoxide: 0.08 percent o Also, minor amounts of: water, nitrogen oxide, neon, hydrogen- deuterium-oxygen, krypton and xenon

7. 5. HOW COME ITS RED? It all started 4.5 billion years ago. When the solar system formed, many of the planets landed a dose of iron. Forged in the heart of long-dead stars, the heavy element swirled around in the cloud of gas and dust that gravitationally collapsed to form the sun and planets. Whereas the bulk of Earth's iron sank to its core when the planet was young and molten, NASA scientists think Mars' smaller size (and weaker gravity) allowed it to remain less differentiated. It does have an iron core, but abundant iron exists in its upper layers, also.

8. 6. WHY IS IT NAMED AFTER A ROMAN GOD? The ancient Greeks called the planet Ares, after their god of war; the Romans then did likewise, associating the planet’s blood-red colour with Mars, their own god of war. Interestingly, other ancient cultures also focused on colour – to China’s astronomers it was ‘the fire star’, whilst Egyptian priests called on ‘Her Desher’, or ‘the red one’. The red colour Mars is known for is due to the rock and dust covering its surface being rich in iron

9. 7. 5 SPECIAL FACTS 1)`The first telescopic observation of Mars was done by Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher in 1610. And within a century, astronomers discovered its polar ice caps. 2) Mars has water — today, it is accepted that Mars had abundant water very early in its history. Observations by the NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have revealed possible flowing water during the warmest months on Mars. 3) Mars has two known moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. The two moons were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall over the course of a week in 1877. 4)Enigma examined NASA’s Curiosity Rover footage and said the image may be the most compelling proof of life on Mars. “A gorilla or bear type creature or maybe even a statue of a creature,” he said about what appears to be a large rock

10. THANKS FOR WATCHING MY SLIDE ABOUT MARS! : THANKS FOR WATCHING MY SLIDE ABOUT MARS! :