Mars is the fourth planet that revolves around the sun which comes right after Earth. This red planet called Mars, like many other planets were named after Gods and Goddesses in mythology. And Mars was named after the Roman god of war. If you are wondering why Mars is red when viewed from a night sky at Earth, and also why Mars was nicknamed The Red Planet, is due to iron. Elemental iron is actually red which also makes our blood red. Hemoglobin, our red blood cells carry iron in ionic form and which causes the red color in our blood. The reason why rust is reddish too is because this is iron oxide. And it is also iron oxide that causes Mars’ reddish look.
Although I wished I had a telescope and the time as well to view Mars better, guess what Google™ has done again! After the earth, then the moon, and now Mars!
View Mars topography, using an elevation map, visual map and infrared map. Google™ Mars truly brings the surface of Mars to the world through the Internet.
Now where can I search for Marvin the Martian on Google™ Mars?
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March 15th, 2006 at 12:11 am
Even if you have a telescope at this point in time, Mars will still most likely look like a red blob in the sky since it’s pretty far away now. Best time to view Mars is when it’s nearest to Earth.
Well at least with Google Mars, you can already see Olympus Mons – the largest volcano in the Solar System very easily.
Ciao!