![THE COMPLETE GUIDE MARS](https://cdn.magzter.com/1493279487/1638438265/articles/61ae0008da222/THE-COMPLETE-GUIDE-MARS.jpg)
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Befitting the Red Planet’s bloody colour, the Romans named it after their god of war. The bright rust colour Mars is known for is due to iron-rich minerals in its regolith – the loose dust and rock covering its surface. The soil of Earth is a kind of regolith, too, albeit one loaded with organic content. The iron minerals on Mars oxidise, or rust, causing its soil to look red.
The planet’s thin atmosphere means liquid water likely cannot exist on the Martian surface for any appreciable length of time. Features called recurring slope lineae may have spurts of briny water flowing onto the surface, but this evidence is disputed; some scientists argue the hydrogen spotted from orbit in this region may instead indicate briny salts. This means that although this desert planet is just half the diameter of Earth, it has the same amount of dry land.
The Red Planet is home to both the highest mountain and the deepest, longest valley in the Solar System. Olympus Mons is roughly 25 kilometres (16 miles) high, about three times as tall as Mount Everest, while the Valles Marineris system of valleys – named after the Mariner 9 probe that discovered it in 1971 – reaches as deep as ten kilometres (six miles) and runs east to west for roughly 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles), about one-fifth the distance around Mars and close to the width of Australia.
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 124 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición Issue 124 de All About Space.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
!["We knew that this would be a historic comet"](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1373895/J0Ir3DF_J1689222545336/crp_WE-KNEW-THAT-THIS-WOULD-BE-A-HISTORIC-COMET.jpg)
"We knew that this would be a historic comet"
Astronomer David Levy was immortalised for his co-discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 – its impact with Jupiter 29 years ago held the world in awe
![CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/9W6-RaxLw1691734139571/CELESTRON-STARSENSE-EXPLORER-DX-102AZ.jpg)
CELESTRON STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ
Innovative technology provides the simplest and quickest solution yet to finding objects to observe, and this instrument will be very popular with beginners
![MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/Nh_FbuTQ-1691734037084/MOON-TOUR-COPERNICUS.jpg)
MOON TOUR - COPERNICUS
Get up close to the ‘Monarch of the Moon’
![A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/uwEzMFoAu1691733825533/A-HUNGRY-BLACK-HOLE-SWITCHES-ON-AS-ASTRONOMERS-WATCH-IN-SURPRISE.jpg)
A HUNGRY BLACK HOLE 'SWITCHES ON' AS ASTRONOMERS WATCH IN SURPRISE
J221951 is one of the most extreme examples yet
![MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/PDJYII2fn1691733484726/MYSTERIES-OF-THE-UNIVERSE-WHY-DOES-JUPITER-CHANGE-COLOUR.jpg)
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE - WHY DOES JUPITER CHANGE COLOUR?
For years, scientists have tried to work out why Jupiter’s bands frequently move and change colour. Now they believe they’ve found the answer
![MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/MVLXt4M7T1691733392016/MARS-HELICOPTER-PHONES-HOME-AFTER-A-63DAY-SILENCE.jpg)
MARS HELICOPTER PHONES HOME AFTER A 63-DAY SILENCE
Rugged terrain had kept Ingenuity from communicating with its robotic partner, the Perseverance rover
![SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/LEnJDVRyL1691733094104/SIX-OF-THE-BEST-SPACE-PRANKS.jpg)
SIX OF THE BEST SPACE PRANKS
It turns out that the sky isn’t the limit when it comes to a good old-fashioned practical joke
![CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/ljdL__odK1691732627379/CLIMATES-CHANGE-IN-THE-SOLAR-SYSTEM.jpg)
CLIMATES CHANGE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
Alongside Earth, our planetary neighbourhood is changing. But not for the better…
![TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/in1YHpDRV1691732364796/TIME-APPEARED-TO-MOVE-FIVE-TIMES-SLOWER-IN-THE-FIRST-BILLION-YEARS-AFTER-THE-BIG-BANG.jpg)
TIME APPEARED TO MOVE FIVE TIMES SLOWER IN THE FIRST BILLION YEARS AFTER THE BIG BANG
Time dilation, brought about by the relativistic expansion of space, has resulted in the observed slowing of ‘clocks’ in the early universe
![WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/15256/1404095/V5ibLPxcW1691732121606/WHAT-CAN-WE-DO-WITH-A-CAPTURED-ASTEROID.jpg)
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH A CAPTURED ASTEROID?
Asteroids could provide us with rare resources