Research Paper On Mars

Mars was first observed before the 1500s and got its name from the Roman god of war. The Egyptians were the first to notice the 5 planets in the sky. Johannes Kepler, during the 1600s, makes Kepler’s first law that Mars has an elliptical orbit. In 1609, Mars was first observed with a telescope by Galileo Galilei. Dutch astronomer, Christian Huygens was able to draw Mars using a telescope he made. Huygens was able to notices certain spots returning to the same position at the same time each day, possibly polar ice caps. From this observation, Huygens calculated Mars has 24 hour days but, in 1666, Giovanni Cassini measure the length of one day is actually 24 hours and 40 minutes. Today’s measured value is 24 hours 37 minutes and 22.663 seconds. Huygens publishes a book about possible extraterrestrials on Mars called Cosmotheoros. Sir William Herschel, in the 1770s, also believed that there was life on Mars. During 1809, yellow clouds, which were later discovered to be dust clouds, were found on Mars’s surface. In 1877, Asaph Hall discovers the two moons …show more content…
Olympus Mons is a volcano that was found on Mars and is one of the tallest in the solar system at a height of 21 km and a diameter of 600 km. The atmosphere on Mars is thin and made mostly of carbon dioxide with trace amounts of nitrogen and argon. Mars was found to have polar ice caps and is one of the only planets, other than Earth, to have ice caps. It is thought by scientist that just under the surface of Mars is water. The structure of Mars has a crust, mantle, and a core which scientist are unsure whether it is liquid, solid, or both. Mars made up of iron rich basaltic rock causing it be rocky, dusty, dry with a red coloring. Because of being dusty and dry, Mars has extreme dust storms that can last for months this is due to the shape of its orbit. The orbit is more oval and elongated than other planets (Planets) (NASA)