Mars

Mars in the night sky looks like a bright spot with a distinctive orange tint. This small rocky planet is in comparison with Earth half the size, but only a tenth of the weight.



Compared to Earth, Mars is much colder and drier. Due to the thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide, the pressure at the surface is also very low. With large telescopes and space probes we can see the evolution of Mars' weather ‒ such as the formation and melting of polar ice caps or huge sandstorms.



Solidified lava flows, craters, sand dunes but also traces of glaciers and rivers dried-up riverbed can be found on the surface of Mars. Flowing water was on Mars, however, abundantly present only in the distant past, a few billion years ago.



Virtually under the entire surface of the planet some traces of water ice was discovered, local permafrost (permafrost) extends to a depth of perhaps up to several kilometers.



Two small satellites orbit around Mars ‒ Phobos and Deimos ‒ probably accidentally captured asteroids.