Mars, easily spotted in the sky, must have been noticed by many, but one person gave it a second thought
to discover it. Let's read more fun facts that led to the discovery of red planet.
Mars is visible to the naked eye. You can look up at the clear sky at night to find the red planet in the horizon. This means, it was visible to the early man who may have been terrorized by it.
Mars changes its position every night, unlike stars. Just imagine the superstitions that may have cropped up when the planet was closer to earth and burned like a hot piece of coal!
History of the Discovery of Mars
The Egyptians called the red planet 'Har decher' or the Red One. The planet was called 'Nergal' or 'the Star of Death' by the Babylonians.
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Greeks called Mars as Ares, the war-god, and associated it with warfare and bloodshed. The Romans too called it the God of war and christened it with its present name 'Mars'.
In ancient mythology, Mars, father of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, was seen as Rome's protector. March, named after Mars, symbolized war.
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Babylonians made astronomical observations and developed complex arithmetical calculations that helped predicting eclipses solely for religious purposes.
The Greeks were the first to observe Mars as one of the five wandering stars, moving relative to the fixed stars.
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Ancient Hindu religious texts called Mars Mangala, who was born from Shiva's sweat, also known as Angaraka in Sanskrit.
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The Hebrews called it Ma'adim' or 'the one who blushes'. The Persians called it the Zoroastrian god of faith, Bahram, and the Turks called it Sakit.
Who Discovered Mars?
In 1576, Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer made accurate calculations of the position of Mars with his eyes!
He had a really keen eyesight that helped in calculating the position without sophisticated instruments in a matter of just 4 minutes! Wow! That's what can be called hawk's eyesight.
German astronomer Johannes Kepler revolutionized astronomy by proposing that Mars's orbit is elliptical, not circular, a highly controversial idea at the time.
In that era, most astronomers believed planets moved in circles. Kepler countered, saying all planets, not just Mars, have elliptical orbits.
Nicolas Copernicus pioneered the heliocentric model, debunking the idea of Earth as the center of the universe and showing that planets orbit the sun.
In 1543, Copernicus's theory was backed by Galileo, whose telescope discovered Jupiter's moons and Venus's phases, supporting the heliocentric model.
In 1659, Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens drew Mars based on his telescope observations, discovering a strange feature named Syrtis Major.
In 1802, a scientist suggested drawing large figures in snow to signal Martians, reflecting humanity's ongoing fascination with Mars.
In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli observed intersecting lines on Mars, suggesting they were water canals constructed by intelligent beings.
In 1971, Mariner 9 returned images of Mars, revealing massive volcanoes and expansive canyons, including the discovery of Olympus Mons.
It is big enough to cover the state of Missouri. It would reach a height of 15 miles above the earth surface. In 1975, Viking I and II landed on Mars that analyzed rocks and soil of Mars.
Mars Odyssey was launched in 2001, that is still in orbit and the end date has been extended to September 2010.
Many explorations have taken place since then and many are under way. We are still in the process of fully discovering Mars and fulfill the fantasy of existence of life on mars.
Interesting Facts
Mars boasts Olympus Mons, the largest dormant volcano, and Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the known universe.
Mars earned its title as the Roman God of war due to its blood-red hue, caused by the presence of iron oxide, or rust, in its soil.
Mars is half the size of earth and has a third of earth gravity.
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Mars experiences frequent dust storms when it's closest to the Sun and icy clouds of carbon dioxide and dust when it's farthest from the Sun.
Mars' moons, Phobos and Deimos, were discovered by Asaph Hall at the U.S. Naval Observatory. He named them after the mythical horses of Mars, the god of war.
Scientist say that Phobos orbits Mars at a low altitude and would tear off from Mars. It will survive as a ring and few years later, will rain down as debris on Mars. This may occur 50 million years from now.
Mars has only 1% of air pressure found on Earth. The atmosphere contains 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and trace amount of oxygen and hydrogen oxide.
The equatorial radius of Mars is 3,397 km and the diameter is 6,794 km.
Scientists have recently discovered that there is enough ice under the surface of Mars that can fill lake Michigan twice.
A year on Mars is 687 Earth days and a day on Mars is equivalent to 1.026 Earth days.
Technically, Galileo discovered Mars when he observed it through his telescope, officially designating it as a planet.
You must give credit to all who have made humans learn more about Mars. The process is not yet complete, as scientists around the world continue to analyze facts about Mars.