Mars
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place_name=Mars (OMa-4)| | place_name=Mars (OMa-4)| | ||
image=[[image:Mars.gif]]| | image=[[image:Mars.gif]]| | ||
| - | discovered= | + | discovered=Always known of by humanity.| |
naming=Named after the Roman War God| | naming=Named after the Roman War God| | ||
size= 0.27 Earths| | size= 0.27 Earths| | ||
| - | satellites=''Notable Satellites'' | + | satellites='''Notable Satellites''' |
* Phobos | * Phobos | ||
* Deimos | * Deimos | ||
Current revision as of 02:02, 18 January 2007
| Mars (OMa-4) | |
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| Discovered: | Always known of by humanity. |
| Named After: | Named after the Roman War God |
| Relative Size: | 0.27 Earths |
| Satellites: | Notable Satellites
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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Mars is also known as the "Red Planet" due to its reddish appearance when seen from Earth. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and oddly shaped. These may be captured asteroids similar to Eureka, a Mars Trojan asteroid. Mars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.
The red/orange appearance of Mars' surface is caused by iron oxide (rust). Mars has half the radius of the Earth and only one-tenth the mass, being less dense, but its surface area is only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land. While Mars is larger and more massive than Mercury, Mercury has slightly stronger gravity at the surface, due to its much higher density.
Contents |
History
y
Early Colonization and the Martian Federation
y
Martian Confederation
See the Martian Confederation.
The Stripping of Mars
AC 275, Project Elektra
Important Cities
Hadak Ura
y
Seven Jewels of Mars
See the Seven Jewels of Mars.
Meaning of the Name
Mars was the Roman god of war, the son of Juno and either Jupiter or a magical flower. As the word Mars has no Indo-European derivation, it is most likely the Latinized form of the agricultural Etruscan god Maris. Initially the Roman god of fertility and vegetation and a protector of cattle, fields and boundaries, Mars later became associated with battle (perhaps as the growing Roman Empire found it necessary to expand in order to feed itself) and identified with the Greek god Ares. He was also a tutelary god of Rome, and as the legendary father of its founder, Romulus, it was believed that all Romans were descended of Mars.
