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- The Red Planet may be much smaller than we expect because Jupiter’s gravity beat it up as it was forming. Models of our solar system’s formation suggest that Mars should be between 1.5 and two times Earth’s mass. Instead, it weighs in at a mere one-tenth the mass of our world.
www.newscientist.com/article/2127273-mars-is-so-small-because-jupiter-shook-up-its-formation/
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May 1, 2014 · New ideas about how the solar system took shape are helping astronomers tackle a planetary puzzle — why Mars is so much smaller than its rocky neighbor worlds.
Jun 14, 2022 · One possible explanation for Mars’s size is that Jupiter actually absorbed material in and around Mars’s orbit, preventing it from becoming larger. In the early solar system, all of the planets likely moved between different orbits, and even the gas giants likely moved between different positions.
Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to roam the alien landscape. NASA missions have found lots of evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago.
Mars has two relatively small (compared to Earth's) natural moons, Phobos (about 22 kilometres (14 mi) in diameter) and Deimos (about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) in diameter), which orbit close to the planet. The origin of both moons is unclear, although a popular theory states that they were asteroids captured into Martian orbit.
Oct 11, 2024 · It is half the size of Earth. Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet. It's red because of rusty iron in the ground. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.
Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light. Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's new Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.
May 16, 2022 · With a diameter of 4,228 miles (6,804 kilometres), Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system after Mercury. Other than Earth, Mars is perhaps the most studied planet in the solar system, and when we begin to understand the Red Planet, it’s easy to see why.
