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Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the seventh largest in the Solar System. A cold, dusty desert world with a thin atmosphere (mostly CO₂), the planet features extinct volcanoes, deep canyons, polar ice caps, and seasons. Mars has two small moons (Phobos and Deimos), a day just over 24 hours long, and a year lasting about 687 Earth days. It is a prime focus of robotic exploration and studies about past water and habitability.

Source: science.nasa.gov

APODs including "Mars"

In Chandor Chasma on Mars

31/05/2002

In Chandor Chasma on Mars
Image Credit: NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

Scroll right and dive into a spectacular canyon on Mars. This daytime infrared view, recently recorded by the THEMIS camera on board the orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft, covers a 30 by 175 kilometer swath running along the canyon floor. The north (left) end of the scene is poised at the edge of Candor Chasma, part of the great Valles Marineris canyon system. In all about 4,000 kilometers long and up to 6 kilometers deep, Valles Marineris is roughly five times the size of the Grand Canyon on planet Earth. The THEMIS camera data was recorded in three separate infrared bands and combined to make this striking false-color image. Resulting color differences along this intricate section of martian terrain are attributed to differences in mineralogy, the chemical makeup and structure of the rocks, sediments and surface dust.