Seven facts you must know about Mars

New Delhi : Several space missions are being carried out for Mars – the red planet of our solar system. This is the fourth planet from the sun and the second smallest. November 28 is celebrated as the Red Planet Day; on the occasion we talk about seven facts which you must know about the planet.

Mars has been named after the Roman god of war and is refer as Red Planet due to the iron oxide prevalent on its surface. According to NASA, the iron minerals oxidize, or rust, causing the soil to look red.

1. Mars has 2 moons called Deimos and Phobos. They are named after the two horses that pull the Roman god of war's chariot.

2. The largest volcano and highest mountain, Olympus Mons, in our solar system is located on Mars. It is 16 miles high and 600 km across the base, which is 3x the height of Mount Everest.

3. One day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes longer than the day on Earth. It is because Mars takes longer than Earth to complete its orbit around the Sun.

4. In 2018, scientists claimed of finding evidences of a lake under Mars' south polar ice cap.

5. As per scientists, the planet lost its global magnetic field about 4 billion years ago, resulting in the stripping of much of its atmosphere by the solar wind.

6. The first person to observe Mars with a telescope was Galileo Galilei in 1610.

7. In 2003, Mars passed closer to Earth than it had at any time in the past 60,000 years.