Science

Planet Mars Facts	planet distance	Enchanted Mars
Mars, the red planet, is the 4th planet from the sun and the most Earth-like planet in our solar system. It is about half the size of Earth and has a dry, rocky surface and a very thin atmosphere.
The surface of Mars is dry, rocky, and mostly covered with iron-rich dust. There are low-lying plains in the northern hemisphere, but the southern hemisphere is dotted with impact craters. The ground is frozen; this permafrost extends for several kilometers.
The north and south poles of Mars are covered by ice caps composed of frozen carbon dioxide and water.
Mars is about 4,222 miles (6790 km) in diameter. This is 53% (a little over half) of the diameter of the Earth.
The core is probably iron and sulphides and may have a radius of 800-1,500 miles (1,300-2,400 km).
Mars' mass is about 6.42 x 10^23 kg. This is 1/9th of the mass of the Earth. A 100-pound person on Mars would weigh 38 pounds.
Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars; it is perhaps the largest volcano in the Solar System. It is 17 miles (27 km) tall and over 320 miles (520 km) across. It is thought to be extinct.
Each day on Mars takes 1.03 Earth days (24.6 hours). A year on Mars takes 687 Earth days; it takes this long for Mars to orbit the sun once.
Mars is 1.524 times farther from than the sun than the Earth is. It averages 141.6 million miles (227.9 million km) from the sun. Its orbit is very elliptical; Mars has the highest orbital eccentricity of any planet in our Solar System except Pluto.
Mars has a very thin atmosphere. It consists of 95% carbon dioxide (CO2), 3% nitrogen, and 1.6% argon (there is no oxygen). The atmospheric pressure is only a fraction of that on Earth (about 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level), and it varies greatly throughout the year. There are large stores of frozen carbon dioxide at the north and south poles. During the warm season in each hemisphere, the polar cap partly melts, releasing carbon dioxide. During the cold season in each hemisphere, the polar cap partly freezes, capturing atmospheric carbon dioxide. The atmospheric pressure varies widely from season to season; the global atmospheric pressure on Mars is 25% different (there is less air, mostly carbon dioxide) during the (northern hemisphere) winter than during the summer. This is mostly due to Mars' highly eccentric orbit; Mars is about 20% closer to the Sun during the winter than during the summer. Because of this, the northern polar cap absorbs more carbon dioxide than the southern polar cap absorbs half a Martian year later. Occasionally, there are clouds in Mars' atmosphere. Most of these clouds are composed of carbon dioxide ice crystals or, less frequently, of frozen water crystals. There are a lot of fine dust particles suspended in Mars' atmosphere. These particles (which contain a lot of iron oxide) absorb blue light, so the sky appears to have little blue in it and is pink/yellow to butterscotch in color.
Mars' surface temperature averages -81 �F (-63 �C). The temperature ranges from a high of 68� F(20� C) to a low of -220� F(-140� C). Mars is much colder than the Earth.
Mars has 2 tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. They were probably asteroids that were pulled into orbit around Mars.
Mars was named after the Roman god of war.


Planets table	The Planetary Data System (PDS)	Space.com
What's the Martian Climate Like Today?
The current Martian climate is regulated by seasonal changes of the carbon dioxide ice caps, the movement of large amounts of dust by the atmosphere and the exchange of water vapor between the surface and the atmosphere. One of the most dynamic weather patterns on Mars is the generation of dust storms that generally occur in the southern spring and summer. These storms can grow to encompass the whole planet. Understanding how these storms develop and grow is one goal of future climatic studies.
Top 10 X-ray Visions		Saturn

On the night of August 26, 2003, Mars will be at the closest approach to Earth ?if by only a little ?than at any time in some 60,000 years.
Mars - Nasa
Mars - ScopeTronix MaxView 40	Mars at Its All-Time Finest
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Saturn Facts

In Roman, Saturn is the god of agriculture, the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English word "Saturday".

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun the second largest. Diameter 120,660 km = 74,900 miles. Average distance from Sun 9.539(AU, astronomical units) = 888,200,000 miles. Its day is 10 hours, 39 minutes long (rotation period). It takes 29.5 Earth years to revolve about the Sun (revolution period).

Saturn is visibly flattened (oblate) when viewed through a small telescope. This is the result of its rapid rotation and fluid state. The other gas planets are also oblate, but not so much so.

Like Jupiter, Saturn is about 75% hydrogen and 25% helium with traces of water, methane, ammonia and "rock". Saturn's interior is similar to Jupiter's consisting of a rocky core, a liquid metallic hydrogen layer and a molecular hydrogen layer. Traces of various ices are also present. Saturn's interior is hot (12000 K at the core). The wind blows at high speeds on Saturn. Near the equator, it reaches velocities of 500 meters a second (1,100 miles an hour). The wind blows mostly in an easterly direction.

There are many rings -- maybe 500 to 1000. There are also gaps in the rings. That's why we put some black rings on our model Saturns. Rings are 270,000 km in diameter, but only a few hundred meters thick. There are four main ring groups and three more faint, narrow ring groups separated by gaps called divisions.

Saturn has 30 Moons, 18 named, 12 recently discovered. Tethys, Rhea, Mimas (the innermost of Saturn's larger moons), Dione (Saturn's fourth large moon).

When it is in the nighttime sky, Saturn is easily visible to the unaided eye. Though it is not nearly as bright as Jupiter, it is easy to identify as a planet because it doesn't "twinkle" like the stars do. The rings and the larger satellites are visible with a small astronomical telescope. There are several Web sites that show the current position of Saturn (and the other planets) in the sky.

Three robotic spacecraft from Earth have already visited Saturn -- Pioneer 11 in 1979, Voyager 1, and Voyager 2. After a seven-year journey, the Cassini (ka-SEE-nee) spacecraft will arrive at Saturn on July 1, 2004. It will go into orbit around Saturn and study its rings, its many moons, and the planet itself.

Cassini also carries a probe, called Huygens (HOY-guns), that will parachute into the atmosphere of Saturn's giant moon Titan. Huygens will send back information on this strange world whose surface we have never seen.

Mars, the red planet, is the 4th planet from the sun and the most Earth-like planet in our solar system. It is about half the size of Earth and has a dry, rocky surface and a very thin atmosphere.

The surface of Mars is dry, rocky, and mostly covered with iron-rich dust. There are low-lying plains in the northern hemisphere, but the southern hemisphere is dotted with impact craters. The ground is frozen; this permafrost extends for several kilometers.

The north and south poles of Mars are covered by ice caps composed of frozen carbon dioxide and water.

Mars is about 4,222 miles (6790 km) in diameter. This is 53% (a little over half) of the diameter of the Earth.

The core is probably iron and sulphides and may have a radius of 800-1,500 miles (1,300-2,400 km).

Mars' mass is about 6.42 x 10^23 kg. This is 1/9th of the mass of the Earth. A 100-pound person on Mars would weigh 38 pounds.

Olympus Mons, the largest volcano on Mars; it is perhaps the largest volcano in the Solar System. It is 17 miles (27 km) tall and over 320 miles (520 km) across. It is thought to be extinct.

Each day on Mars takes 1.03 Earth days (24.6 hours). A year on Mars takes 687 Earth days; it takes this long for Mars to orbit the sun once.

Mars is 1.524 times farther from than the sun than the Earth is. It averages 141.6 million miles (227.9 million km) from the sun. Its orbit is very elliptical; Mars has the highest orbital eccentricity of any planet in our Solar System except Pluto.

Mars' surface temperature averages -81 �F (-63 �C). The temperature ranges from a high of 68� F(20� C) to a low of -220� F(-140� C). Mars is much colder than the Earth.

Mars has 2 tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. They were probably asteroids that were pulled into orbit around Mars.

Mars was named after the Roman god of war.

What's the Martian Climate Like Today?

On the night of August 26, 2003, Mars will be at the closest approach to Earth ?if by only a little ?than at any time in some 60,000 years.

Saturn Facts

In Roman, Saturn is the god of agriculture, the son of Uranus and Gaia and the father of Zeus (Jupiter). Saturn is the root of the English word "Saturday".

Saturn is visibly flattened (oblate) when viewed through a small telescope. This is the result of its rapid rotation and fluid state. The other gas planets are also oblate, but not so much so.

Saturn has 30 Moons, 18 named, 12 recently discovered. Tethys, Rhea, Mimas (the innermost of Saturn's larger moons), Dione (Saturn's fourth large moon).

Cassini also carries a probe, called Huygens (HOY-guns), that will parachute into the atmosphere of Saturn's giant moon Titan. Huygens will send back information on this strange world whose surface we have never seen.