Mars is the first planet in the solar system after Earth, to which man has shown special interest with the hope that there is developed extraterrestrial life there. Which planet is devoted to the largest number of science fiction novels, novellas, and short stories? Of course, Mars. The imagination of writers fueled the interest of the general public in the nature of the mysterious planet. Astronomers have been bombarded with questions and there are many surprising and interesting facts about Mars. The name of the planet comes from the name of the Roman god of war due to the fact that the color of Mars is very similar to blood. The second name of Mars is the Red Planet. Scientists have hypothesized that this color is caused by the presence of large amounts of iron oxides in the planet's atmosphere.
The first person to see Mars through a telescope was the famous Italian scientist Galileo Galilei. This happened in 1609
Mars is colored red due to the significant occurrence of iron oxides in the soil. The presence of dust in the atmosphere gives the sky of Mars a pinkish tint.
The size of the red planet is very small - You might think it is Earth's twin, but its diameter is only about half that of Earth.
Mass of the planet - The total mass is about 10% of the Earth's mass.
Volume and density
The air on Mars is lethal to humans. The size of its atmosphere is only 1% of Earth's. It consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and trace amounts of oxygen, water vapor and other gases.
Mars is a world of extreme weather conditions. In general, it is very cold there, with an average surface temperature of around -47°C. During the summer, near the equator, temperatures can reach 20°C during the day but drop to -90°C at night. This 110° degree temperature difference creates winds that reach tornado speeds. Once these winds begin, iron oxide dust rises into the air and covers the entire planet.
Compared to Earth, gravity on Mars is 2.5 times weaker, so if on Earth you weigh 100 kg, then on Mars the scales will show 38 and you will be able to jump 3 times higher.
On Mars in ancient times there were quite a lot of water resources, but they then disappeared. Evidence of the “water past” of Mars are meanders - dried up beds of ancient rivers, as well as some minerals that could only be formed as a result of the action of water.
None of the people or animals would survive on Mars without a special spacesuit. The pressure on Mars is so low that the oxygen in the blood would instantly turn into gas bubbles, which would lead to instant death.
Due to the absence of an ozone layer on Mars, when the sun rises, the surface of the planet receives lethal doses of radiation.
Of all the spacecraft launched to Mars, only one third were able to successfully complete their mission, the rest disappeared without a trace. Scientists have suggested that the planet may have a Martian “Bermuda Triangle”, which absorbs space satellites.
Signs of life
On Earth, scientists have discovered that life can adapt to almost any environment - as long as there is water. Life exists on the ocean floor, inside nuclear reactors, and deep inside the Earth at enormous temperatures. Wherever there is water on Earth, scientists have discovered life.
If there is liquid water, there may be life there, or signs that life once existed, which would also be a huge discovery.
There are many examples that water used to be on the surface many billions of years ago. Orbiting spacecraft have imaged ancient riverbeds, and perhaps even coastlines, of long-dead oceans. Most recently, NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovered vast amounts of water in the form of ice beneath the planet's surface.
Continuing our incredible facts, it is worth mentioning the highest mountain in the solar system - Olympus volcano. It rises to a height of 27 kilometers above the surrounding plains. Mount Olympus is a shield volcano, like Mount Kea in Hawaii. It formed gradually over millions of years. Some of the volcano's lava flows are so young that planetary scientists believe it may still be active.
It has two tiny moons called Phobos and Deimos. Phobos orbits the planet at such a low altitude that it will eventually fall onto it. Its fragments, in the form of a ring, will exist for many more years, and then fall as a meteorite shower on Mars. Scientists disagree on when this will happen. This could happen as early as 10 million years, but no later than 50 million years.
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The planet Mars
In ancient times, the planet Mars was named after the god of war for its blood-red color, which immediately catches the eye when observed through a telescope.
During the time of Pythagoras (VI century BC), the Greeks called this planet “Phaethon”, which means “brilliant, radiant”; Aristotle (IV century BC) called Mars “Ares” after the god of war.
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- Diameter of Mars: 6670 km
- Temperature
- on most of the surface: -23°С,
- -150°C at the poles,
- -0°С at the equator
- Period of revolution around its axis (length of day): 24.6229 hours
- Orbital period (year): 687 days
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Mars is the fourth most distant planet from the Sun and the seventh largest planet in the solar system.
The distance of Mars from the Sun is on average 228 million km
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Sun, Planets and their satellites
- Mercury
- Venus
- Earth
- The Moon is the Earth's satellite)
- Phobos, Deimos (moons of Mars)
- moons of Jupiter
- satellites of Saturn
- rings of saturn
- satellites of Uranus
- satellites of Neptune
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Moons of Mars
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Phobos and Deimos
Phobos and Deimos are irregular in shape and very small in size.
They may represent asteroids captured by the gravitational field of Mars.
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Extensive accumulations of ice mixed with solid carbon dioxide have been discovered under the surface of Mars.
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There is currently no liquid water on Mars.
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Ice ages on Mars
- The climate on Mars is cold and dry.
- The entire planet is bound by permafrost.
- 2 million years ago there was a great snow period on Mars
- When the climate warmed and the snow melted, the dust that had settled on the polar cap for centuries ended up on the surface of the planet, covering it with a layer.
- Today, the surface of Mars is a frost-bound rocky desert.
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Spots on the south pole of Mars
According to scientists, the characteristic spots that appear every spring near the south pole of Mars may be visible signs of the presence of life on the planet.
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- The spots appear on sand dunes located on the walls of craters in the southern and northern polar regions of Mars.
- A group of Hungarian researchers found that the spots appear at the end of winter and disappear by summer.
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- The Martian subpolar dunes are harsh. The temperature in them can drop to -126o Celsius
- The thin Martian atmosphere allows more ultraviolet radiation to pass through
- The problem for Martian microorganisms is an acute shortage of water.
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Mars has undergone significant climate change, but in its distant past it was a warmer, wetter planet on which life could have evolved.
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Ruins of an ancient civilization on Mars
Many modern scientists suggest that some of the photographs revealed very interesting anomalies, the origin of which can be attributed to the activities of intelligent beings living on Mars.
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An area of the surface of Mars is depicted similar to the ruins of an ancient city that once existed on Mars (the remains of buildings and intensive agricultural activities of intelligent beings who lived on this planet).
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A similar image - the ruins of a city with developed agriculture - can be found in the mountains of Peru.
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In the enlarged image, you can see terraces on which Martian crops may have been cultivated.
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Similar image in the mountains of Peru
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The photo shows ancient walls or possibly the remaining walls of ancient buildings, which are gradually buried in the sand.
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The biggest mystery for humanity remains everything that is outside our planet. How much unknown and undiscovered dark space conceals within itself. I am glad that today we know information, albeit not all, about nearby planets. Let's talk about Mars today.
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Mars is the fourth planet farthest from the Sun and closest to Earth. This planet is approximately 4.6 billion years old, like Earth, Venus and the rest of the planets in the solar system.
The name of the planet comes from the name of the ancient Roman and Greek god of war - ARES. The Romans and Greeks associated the planet with war due to its resemblance to blood. When viewed from Earth, Mars is red-orange in color. The color of the planet is due to the abundance of iron minerals in the soil.
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Physical characteristics of Mars
Orbit and rotation of the planet. Like the rest of the planets in the solar system, Mars revolves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit. But its orbit is more elongated than the orbit of the Earth and other planets. The greatest distance from the Sun to Mars is 249,230,000 km, the smallest is 206,620,000 km. The length of the year is 687 Earth days. The length of a day is 24 hours 39 minutes and 35 seconds.
The distance between Earth and Mars depends on the position of these planets in their orbits. It can vary from 54,500,000 km to 401,300,000 km. Mars is closest to Earth during opposition, when the planet is in the opposite direction to the Sun. Oppositions are repeated every 26 months at different points in the orbit of Mars and Earth.
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Mass and density. The mass of Mars is 6.42*1020 tons, which is 10 times less than the mass of the Earth. Density is about 3.933 grams per cubic centimeter, which is approximately 70% of the density of the Earth.
Gravitational forces. Due to the planet's smaller size and density, the gravity on Mars is 38% that of Earth. Therefore, if a person stands on Mars, he will feel as if his weight has been reduced by 62%. Or, if he drops a stone, then this stone will fall much more slowly than the same stone on Earth.
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Sources of obtaining information about Mars are: calculations related to the mass, rotation, density of the planet, knowledge of the properties of other planets, analysis of Martian meteorites that fell to Earth, as well as data collected from research vehicles in orbit of the planet. All this information makes it possible to assume that Mars, like the Earth, may consist of 3 main layers:
Martian crust;
a core consisting mainly of iron.
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Surface of Mars
Plains. Most of the surface consists of flat, low-lying plains, which are mainly located in the northern hemisphere of the planet. One of these plains is the lowest and relatively smooth among all the plains in the solar system. This smoothness was likely achieved by deposits of sediment (tiny particles that settle at the bottom of liquid) formed as a result of water in the area - one piece of evidence that there was once water on Mars.
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Canyons. Along the planet's equator lies one of the world's most stunning sites, a system of canyons known as Valles Marineris, named after the Marinera 9 space research station that first discovered the valley in 1971. Valles Marineris stretches from east to west and is approximately 4000 km in length, which is equal to the width of the continent of Australia. Scientists believe that these canyons were formed as a result of the splitting and stretching of the planet's crust; the depth in some places reaches 8-10 km.
Valle Marineris
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Valles Marineris on Mars. Photo from astronet.ru
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Volcanoes of Mars
The largest volcano in the solar system is located on Mars - the Olympus Mons volcano (translation from Latin: Mount Olympus) with a height of 27 km. The diameter of the mountain is 600 km. Three other large volcanoes - Mounts Arsia, Askreus and Povonis - are located on a huge volcanic highland called Tharsis.
All the slopes of the volcanoes on Mars gradually rise, similar to the volcanoes in Hawaii. Hawaiian and Martian volcanoes are wall volcanoes formed from lava eruptions. Currently, not a single active volcano has been found on Mars. Traces of volcanic ash on the slopes of other mountains suggest that Mars was once volcanically active.
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volcano Olympus Mons
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Climate and atmosphere of Mars
Atmosphere. The atmosphere of Mars is thin, the oxygen content in the atmosphere is only 0.13%, while in the Earth's atmosphere it is 21%. Carbon dioxide content - 95.3%. Other gases contained in the atmosphere include nitrogen - 2.7%; argon - 1.6%; carbon monoxide - 0.07% and water - 0.03%.
Atmosphere pressure. The atmospheric pressure on the planet's surface is only 0.7 kPascal, which is 0.7% of the atmospheric pressure on the Earth's surface. As the seasons change, atmospheric pressure fluctuates.
Temperature of Mars. At high altitudes in the region of 65-125 km from the surface of the planet, the atmospheric temperature is -130 degrees Celsius. Closer to the surface, the average daily temperature of Mars ranges from -30 to -40 degrees. Just below the surface, the temperature of the atmosphere can vary greatly throughout the day. Even near the equator, it can reach -100 degrees late at night.
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Dust storms
A dust storm is the most spectacular weather event on Mars. This is a swirling wind that can lift dust from the surface in a short time, which looks like a tornado.
The formation of large dust storms on Mars occurs as follows: when strong winds begin to lift dust into the atmosphere, this dust absorbs sunlight, thereby warming the air around it. As soon as warm air rises, an even stronger wind arises, which raises even more dust. As a result, the storm becomes even stronger.
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Is there life on Mars?
Scientists believe that Mars has three main components necessary for life:
chemical elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, with the help of which organic elements are formed;
a source of energy that can be used by living organisms;
water in liquid form.
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Researchers suggest: if there was once life on Mars, then living organisms can exist today. As evidence, they cite the following arguments: the basic chemical elements necessary for life were likely present on the planet throughout its history. The source of energy could be the sun, as well as the internal energy of the planet itself. Water in liquid form could also exist, since canals, ditches and a huge amount of ice, more than 1 m high, were discovered on the surface of Mars. Consequently, water can still exist in liquid form under the surface of the planet. And this proves the possibility of the existence of life on the planet.
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Mars - "Red Planet"
Prepared by: Voroshilov Egor 10A
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Introduction:
Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system, one of the first discovered by mankind. To date, of all eight planets, it is Mars that has been studied in the most detail.
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History of the name of the planet:
The planet got its name from Mars, one of the most revered gods of the ancient Roman pantheon, which, in turn, is a reference to the Greek god Ares, the patron of cruel and treacherous war.
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History of Mars exploration:
Even the ancient Egyptians noticed the Red Planet as a wandering object, which is confirmed by ancient written sources. The entry of man into space has made it possible to study the Red Planet more accurately and in detail. In the mid-20th century, with the help of interplanetary stations, precise images of the surface were taken, and ultra-powerful infrared and ultraviolet telescopes made it possible to measure the composition of the planet’s atmosphere and the speed of winds on it.
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Some facts about Mars:
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, adjacent to the Earth and Jupiter. The length of Mars' equator is slightly more than half the length of Earth's equator, and its surface area is approximately equal to the land area of Earth. The planet experiences a change of seasons, just like on Earth. The length of a day is quite comparable to that on earth - 24 hours and 39 minutes.
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Surface of Mars
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Structure and geological data:
The study of the magnetic field of Mars led scientists to an interesting conclusion: once upon a time, the movement of lithospheric plates occurred on Mars. Modern researchers tend to think that the internal structure of Mars consists of the following components: Crust (approximate thickness - 50 kilometers) Silicate mantle Core (approximate radius - 1500 kilometers) The planet's core is partially liquid and contains twice as many light elements as the Earth's core.
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Atmosphere of Mars:
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Moons of Mars
Two small satellites revolve around Mars - Phobos and Deimos (translated from ancient Greek as “fear” and “horror.” That was the name of the two sons of Ares, who fought with him.)
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Some more facts about Mars:
The mass of Mars is 10 times less than the mass of Earth. The first person to see Mars through a telescope was Galileo Galilei. The Babylonians called the planet "Nergal" (in honor of their deity of evil). In ancient India, Mars was called "Mangala" (the Indian god of war). In culture, Mars has become the most popular planet in the solar system. The daily dose of radiation on Mars is equal to the annual dose on Earth. The highest mountain in the Solar System is located on the surface of Mars, its height is 22 km, and its name is Olympus.
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Mars is considered the most studied alien planet in the solar system. Rovers and probes continue to explore its features, each time offering new information. It was possible to confirm that the Earth and the Red Planet agree on the following characteristics: polar glaciers, seasonal variations, atmospheric layer, running water. There is also evidence that life could have previously been located there, so we continue to return to Mars, which will most likely become the first colonized planet.
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Astronomy Project
Planets of the solar system
Subject: Completed: Checked:
Kirichko Anastasia
Maksimenko A.V.
MBOU Kolybelskaya secondary school, 2009
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Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere. Features of the surface relief of Mars can be considered impact craters like those on the Moon and volcanoes, valleys, deserts and polar ice caps like those on Earth. Mars has a rotation period and seasons similar to those on Earth, but its climate is much colder and drier than Earth's.
The Martian extinct volcano Olympus Mons is the highest mountain in the solar system, and Valles Marineris is the largest canyon. In June 2008, three papers published in Nature provided evidence for the largest known impact crater in the solar system in the northern hemisphere of Mars. It is 10,600 km long and 8,500 km wide, about four times larger than the largest impact crater near its south pole on Mars.
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Comparative size of Earth and Mars
Mars is almost half the size of Earth - its equatorial radius is 3396.9 km (53% of Earth's). The surface area of Mars is approximately equal to the land area on Earth. The polar radius of Mars is approximately 21 km less than the equatorial radius. The planet's mass is 6.418×1023 kg (11% of the Earth's mass). The acceleration of gravity at the equator is 3.693 m/sec² (0.378 Earth); the first escape velocity is 3.6 km/sec and the second is 5.027 km/sec. Mars rotates around its axis, inclined to the orbital plane at an angle of 24°56′ with a period of 24 hours 37 minutes 22.7 seconds. A Martian year consists of 668.6 Martian solar days (called sols). The tilt of Mars' rotation axis causes the seasons to change. In this case, the elongation of the orbit leads to large differences in their duration. Thus, the northern spring and summer, taken together, last 371 sols, that is, noticeably more than half of the Martian year. At the same time, they occur in a section of Mars’ orbit that is distant from the Sun. Therefore, on Mars, the northern summer is long and cool, and the southern summer is short and hot.
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Mars moves around the Sun in an elliptical orbit with an eccentricity of 0.0934. The orbital plane is inclined to the ecliptic plane at a slight angle (1° 51"). The average distance from the Sun is 227.99 million km (1.524 AU). The minimum distance from the Sun is approximately 207, the maximum is 249 million km; from -due to this difference, the amount of energy received from the Sun varies by 20-30%. Since the inclination of the equator to the orbital plane is significant (25.2°), there are noticeable seasonal changes on the planet. The period of revolution of Mars around the Sun is almost twice as long as an Earth year (686. 98 Earth days).The average speed of orbital motion is 24.13 km/s. The period of daily revolution of Mars around its axis is almost the same as that of the Earth (24 hours 37 minutes 22.58 s). The equatorial radius of the planet is 3394 km, polar - 3376.4 km. The surface level in the southern hemisphere is on average 3-4 km higher than in the northern. The mass of Mars is 6.44 1023 kg, that is, 0.108 of the mass of the Earth. The average density is 3.95 g/cm3. Acceleration of free incidence at the equator is 3.76 m/s2.Mars is at its minimum distance from the Earth during oppositions, which occur at intervals of 779.94 Earth days. However, once every 15-17 years the so-called great opposition occurs, when these two planets approach each other by about 56 million km; the last such approach took place in 1988. During great oppositions, Mars appears as the brightest star in the midnight sky (-2.7 magnitude), orange-red in color, as a result of which it came to be considered an attribute of the god of war (hence the name of the planet).
Movement, size, mass
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The elevation differences are quite significant and amount to approximately 14-16 km in the equatorial region, but there are also peaks that rise much higher, for example, Arsia (27 km) and Olympus (26 km) in the elevated Tarais region in the northern hemisphere. Observations of Mars from satellites reveal clear traces of volcanism and tectonic activity - faults, gorges with branching canyons, some of them are hundreds of kilometers long, tens of them wide and several kilometers deep. The most extensive of the faults - “Valley Marineris” - near the equator stretches for 4000 km with a width of up to 120 km and a depth of 4-5 km.
Surface topography
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Typographic map of Mars
Telescopic studies of Mars have revealed features such as seasonal changes in its surface. This primarily applies to the “white polar caps,” which begin to increase with the onset of autumn (in the corresponding hemisphere), and in the spring they “melt” quite noticeably, with “warming waves” spreading from the poles. A significant part of the surface of Mars consists of lighter areas (“continents”) that have a reddish-orange color; 25% of the surface is darker “seas” of gray-green color, the level of which is lower than that of the “continents”.
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Section of the Gusev crater
The large number of craters in the southern hemisphere suggests that the surface here is ancient - 3-4 billion years old. Several types of craters can be distinguished: large craters with a flat bottom, smaller and younger bowl-shaped craters similar to the Moon, craters surrounded by ridges, and elevated craters. The last two types are unique to Mars - rimmed craters formed where liquid ejecta flowed across the surface, and raised craters formed where a blanket of crater ejecta protected the surface from wind erosion.
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Valles Marineris
The largest feature of impact origin is the Hellas Basin (approximately 2100 km across). In the area of chaotic landscape near the hemispheric boundary, the surface experienced large areas of fracture and compression, sometimes followed by erosion (due to landslides or catastrophic release of groundwater), as well as flooding by liquid lava. Chaotic landscapes often lie at the head of large channels cut by water. The most acceptable hypothesis for their joint formation is the sudden melting of subsurface ice.
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Black hole
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Mars has a magnetic field, but it is weak and extremely unstable; at different points on the planet its strength can differ from 1.5 to 2 times, and the magnetic poles do not coincide with the physical ones. This suggests that the iron core of Mars is relatively immobile in relation to its crust, that is, the planetary dynamo mechanism responsible for the Earth’s magnetic field does not work on Mars. Perhaps in the distant past, as a result of a collision with a large celestial body, the rotation of the core stopped, as well as the loss of the main volume of the atmosphere. The loss of the magnetic field is believed to have occurred about 4 billion years ago. Due to the weakness of the magnetic field, the solar wind penetrates almost unhindered into the atmosphere of Mars.