How many degrees on Mars during the day? What's the weather like on Mars? What is the atmosphere of Mars and its composition? Who said you can live on Mars? What is a Martian year? How is it different from Earth?

Mars- this is harsh, cold world, the conditions on which are very different from what we are used to. Despite the fact that the Sun (when viewed from the surface of Mars) appears here only slightly smaller than when observed from Earth, in fact Mars is located at a distance from it, that is, much further than our planet (149.5 million km .). Accordingly, this planet receives a quarter less solar energy than the Earth.

However, distance from the Sun is only one of the reasons why the planet Mars is cold planet. The second reason is that it is too thin, consisting of 95% carbon dioxide, and unable to retain enough heat.

Why is atmosphere so important? Because for our (and any other) planet, it serves as a kind of “thermal underwear” or “blanket” that prevents the surface from cooling too quickly. Now imagine that if on Earth, with its very dense atmosphere, in winter the temperature drops in some regions to -50-70 degrees Celsius, how cold it must be on Mars, whose blanket-atmosphere is 100 times thinner than the earth’s!

Snow on Mars - a landscape as seen by one of the rovers on the surface of the red planet. To be honest, here in Yakutia I saw exactly the same landscapes

Temperature on Mars day and night

So, Mars is a lifeless and cold planet, due to subtle atmosphere completely deprived of the chance to ever “warm up”. However, what temperature is typically observed in Martian conditions?

Average temperature on Mars is something around minus 60 degrees Celsius. So that you understand how cold it is, here’s food for thought: on Earth the average temperature is +14.8 degrees, so yes, it’s very, very “cool” on Mars. In winter, near the poles, temperatures on Mars can drop to -125 degrees Celsius, regardless of the time of day. On a summer day, near the equator, the planet is relatively warm: up to +20 degrees, but at night the thermometer will drop again to -73. You can’t say anything - the conditions are simply extreme!

As temperatures drop, particles of carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere freeze and fall as frost, covering the planet's surface and rocks like snow. Martian “snow” bears little resemblance to terrestrial snow, because its snowflakes are no larger in size than red blood cells in human blood. Rather, such “snow” resembles a thin fog that settles on the surface of the planet as it freezes. However, as soon as the Martian morning comes and the planet’s atmosphere begins to warm up, carbon dioxide will again turn into a volatile compound, and again cover everything around with a white mist until it evaporates completely.

The ice caps of Mars are visible even from the ground in a good telescope.

Seasons (seasons) on Mars

Like our planet, Mars' axis is slightly inclined relative to the plane, which in turn means that, just like on Earth, Mars has 4 seasons, or seasons. However, due to the fact that the orbit of Mars around the Sun does not resemble an even circle, but is slightly shifted to the side relative to the center (the sun), the length of the Martian seasons is also uneven.

So, in the northern hemisphere of the planet, the longest season is spring, which lasts as many as seven on Mars earthly months. Summer And autumn about six months, but the Martian winter- the most a short time years, and lasts only four months.

During the Martian summer, polar ice cap planets, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide, are significantly reduced in size and may disappear completely. However, even a short but unusually cold Martian winter is enough to build it up again. If there is water somewhere on Mars, then most likely you need to look for it at the pole, where it is trapped under a layer of frozen carbon dioxide.

Mars now has a dry and cold climate (left), but in the early stages of the planet's evolution, it most likely had liquid water and a thick atmosphere (right).

Studying

Observation history

Current observations

Weather

Temperature

The average temperature on Mars is significantly lower than on Earth: −63°C. Since the atmosphere of Mars is very rarefied, it does not smooth out daily fluctuations in surface temperature. At the most favorable conditions In summer, on the daytime half of the planet, the air warms up to 20 ° C (and at the equator - up to +27 ° C) - a completely acceptable temperature for the inhabitants of the Earth. Maximum temperature air temperature recorded by the Spirit rover was +35 °C. But winter at night, frost can reach even at the equator from −80 °C to −125 °C, and at the poles the night temperature can drop to −143 °C. However, daily temperature fluctuations are not as significant as on the atmosphereless Moon and Mercury. There are temperature oases on Mars, in the regions of the Phoenix Lake (solar plateau) and land of Noah The temperature difference ranges from −53°С to +22°С in summer and from −103°С to −43°С in winter. Thus, Mars is a very cold world, the climate there is much harsher than in Antarctica.

Climate of Mars, 4.5ºS, 137.4ºE (from 2012 to today [ When?])
Index	Jan.	Feb.	March	Apr.	May	June	July	Aug.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Year
Absolute maximum, °C	6	6	1	0	7	23	30	19	7	7	8	8	30
Average maximum, °C	−7	−18	−23	−20	−4	0	2	1	1	4	−1	−3	−5,7
Average minimum, °C	−82	−86	−88	−87	−85	−78	−76	−69	−68	−73	−73	−77	−78,5
Absolute minimum, °C	−95	−127	−114	−97	−98	−125	−84	−80	−78	−79	−83	−110	−127
Source: Centro de Astrobiología, Mars Science Laboratory Weather Twitter

Atmosphere pressure

The atmosphere of Mars is more rarefied than the air shell of the Earth, and consists of more than 95% carbon dioxide, and the oxygen and water content is a fraction of a percent. The average pressure of the atmosphere at the surface is on average 0.6 kPa or 6 mbar, which is 160 less than the Earth's or equal to the Earth's at an altitude of almost 35 km from the Earth's surface). Atmosphere pressure undergoes strong daily and seasonal changes.

Clouds and precipitation

There is no more than a thousandth of a percent of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere, but according to the results of recent (2013) studies, this is still more than previously thought, and more than in upper layers Earth's atmosphere, and at low pressure and temperature it is in a state close to saturation, so it often collects in clouds. As a rule, water clouds form at altitudes of 10-30 km above the surface. They are concentrated mainly at the equator and are observed almost throughout the year. Clouds seen on high levels atmosphere (more than 20 km), are formed as a result of CO 2 condensation. The same process is responsible for the formation of low (at an altitude of less than 10 km) clouds in the polar regions in winter period when the atmospheric temperature drops below the freezing point of CO2 (-126 °C); in summer, similar thin formations of ice H 2 O are formed

Formations of a condensation nature are also represented by fogs (or haze). They often stand above lowlands - canyons, valleys - and at the bottom of craters during the cold season.

Snowstorms can occur in the atmosphere of Mars. In 2008, the Phoenix rover observed virgu in the polar regions - precipitation under clouds that evaporates before reaching the surface of the planet. According to initial estimates, the rate of precipitation in Virga was very low. However, recent (2017) modeling of Martian atmospheric phenomena showed that at mid-latitudes, where there is a regular cycle of day and night, clouds cool sharply after sunset, and this can lead to snowstorms, during which particle speeds can actually reach 10 m/s. Scientists admit that strong winds combined with low clouds (usually Martian clouds form at an altitude of 10-20 km) can lead to snow falling on the surface of Mars. This phenomenon is similar to terrestrial microbursts - squalls of downward wind with a speed of up to 35 m/s, often associated with thunderstorms.

Snow has indeed been observed more than once. So, in the winter of 1979, a thin layer of snow fell in the Viking-2 landing area, which remained for several months.

Dust storms and tornadoes

A characteristic feature of the atmosphere of Mars is the constant presence of dust, particles of which have a size of about 1.5 mm and consist mainly of iron oxide. Low gravity allows even thin air currents to raise huge clouds of dust to a height of up to 50 km. And winds, which are one of the manifestations of temperature differences, often blow over the surface of the planet (especially in late spring - early summer in southern hemisphere, when the temperature difference between the hemispheres is especially sharp), and their speed reaches 100 m/s. In this way, extensive dust storms, long observed in the form of individual yellow clouds, and sometimes in the form of a continuous yellow veil covering the entire planet. Most often, dust storms occur near the polar caps; their duration can reach 50-100 days. A faint yellow haze in the atmosphere is usually observed after large dust storms and is easily detected by photometric and polarimetric methods.

Dust storms, clearly visible in images taken from orbital vehicles, turned out to be barely noticeable when photographed from landers. The passage of dust storms in the landing sites of these space stations was recorded only by a sharp change in temperature, pressure and a very slight darkening of the general background of the sky. The layer of dust that settled after the storm in the vicinity of the Viking landing sites amounted to only a few micrometers. All this indicates a rather low bearing capacity of the Martian atmosphere.

From September 1971 to January 1972, a global dust storm occurred on Mars, which even prevented photography of the surface from the Mariner 9 probe. The mass of dust in the atmospheric column (with an optical depth of 0.1 to 10), estimated during this period, ranged from 7.8⋅10 -5 to 1.66⋅10 -3 g/cm 2 . Thus, the total weight of dust particles in the atmosphere of Mars during the period of global dust storms can reach up to 10 8 - 10 9 tons, which is comparable to total number dust in the earth's atmosphere.

Question about water availability

For a stable existence clean water in liquid state temperature And The partial pressure of water vapor in the atmosphere should be above the triple point on the phase diagram, whereas now they are far from the corresponding values. Indeed, research conducted by the Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965 showed that there is currently no liquid water on Mars, but data from NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers indicate the presence of water in the past. On July 31, 2008, ice water was discovered on Mars at the landing site of NASA's Phoenix spacecraft. The device discovered ice deposits directly in the ground. There are several facts to support the claim that water was present on the planet's surface in the past. Firstly, minerals were found that could only be formed as a result of prolonged exposure to water. Secondly, very old craters have been practically erased from the face of Mars. The modern atmosphere could not cause such destruction. A study of the rate of formation and erosion of craters made it possible to establish that wind and water destroyed them most strongly about 3.5 billion years ago. Many ravines are approximately the same age.

NASA announced on September 28, 2015 that seasonal flows of liquid salt water currently exist on Mars. These formations manifest themselves in the warm season and disappear in the cold season. Planetary scientists came to their conclusions by analyzing high-quality images obtained by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) scientific instrument of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

On July 25, 2018, a report was released about the discovery, based on research by the MARSIS radar. The work showed the presence of a subglacial lake on Mars, located at a depth of 1.5 km under the ice of the South Polar Cap (on Planum Australia), about 20 km wide. This became the first known permanent body of water on Mars.

Seasons

As on Earth, on Mars there is a change of seasons due to the inclination of the rotation axis to the orbital plane, so in winter the polar cap grows in the northern hemisphere, and almost disappears in the southern hemisphere, and after six months the hemispheres change places. Moreover, due to the rather large eccentricity of the planet’s orbit at perihelion ( winter solstice in the northern hemisphere) she receives up to 40% more solar radiation than in aphelion, and in the northern hemisphere the winters are short and relatively moderate, and the summers are long but cool, while in the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, the summers are short and relatively warm, and the winters are long and cold. In connection with this, the southern cap in winter expands to half the pole-equator distance, and the northern cap only to a third. When summer begins at one of the poles, carbon dioxide from the corresponding polar cap evaporates and enters the atmosphere; the winds carry it to the opposite cap, where it freezes again. Thus, the carbon dioxide cycle occurs, which, along with different sizes The polar ice caps cause the pressure of Mars's atmosphere to change as it orbits the Sun. Due to the fact that in winter up to 20-30% of the entire atmosphere freezes in the polar cap, the pressure in the corresponding area drops accordingly.

Changes over time

As on Earth, the climate of Mars underwent long-term changes and in the early stages of the planet's evolution was very different from what it is today. The difference is that main role in the cyclic changes in the Earth's climate, changes in the eccentricity of the orbit and the precession of the rotation axis play a role, while the inclination of the rotation axis remains approximately constant due to the stabilizing influence of the Moon, while Mars, not having such a large satellite, can undergo significant changes in the inclination of its rotation axis. Calculations have shown that the inclination of Mars' rotation axis, which is now 25° - approximately the same value as that of the Earth - was 45° in the recent past, and on a scale of millions of years could fluctuate from 10° to 50°.

The planet Mars, like Earth’s other close neighbor, Venus, has been the subject of the closest study by astronomers since antiquity. Visible to the naked eye, since ancient times it has been shrouded in mystery, legends and speculation. And today we know far from everything about the Red Planet, but much information obtained over centuries of observation and study has dispelled some myths and helped people understand many of the processes occurring on this space object. Temperature on Mars, the composition of its atmosphere, features of orbital movement after improvement technical methods research and the beginning of the space age managed to move from the category of assumptions to the rank indisputable facts. Nevertheless, many data about both such a close and such a distant neighbor have yet to be explained.

Fourth

Mars is located one and a half times further from the Sun than our planet (the distance is estimated at 228 million km). According to this parameter, it ranks fourth. Beyond the orbit of the Red Planet lies the Main Asteroid Belt and the “domain” of Jupiter. It flies around our star in about 687 days. At the same time, the orbit of Mars is highly elongated: its perihelion is located at a distance of 206.7, and its aphelion is 249.2 million km. And the day here lasts only almost 40 minutes longer than on Earth: 24 hours and 37 minutes.

Little brother

Mars belongs to the terrestrial planets. The main substances that make up its structure are metals and silicon. Among similar objects in its dimensions, it is only ahead of Mercury. The diameter of the Red Planet is 6,786 kilometers, which is about half that of Earth. However, Mars is 10 times less massive than our cosmic home. The area of ​​the entire surface of the planet is slightly larger than the area of ​​the Earth's continents combined, excluding the vastness of the World Ocean. The density here is also lower - only 3.93 kg/m3.

Search for life

Despite the obvious difference between Mars and Earth, for a long time it was considered a viable candidate for a habitable planet. Before the beginning of the space age, scientists observing the reddish surface of this cosmic body through a telescope periodically discovered signs of life, which soon, however, found a more prosaic explanation.

Over time, the conditions under which at least the simplest organisms could appear outside the Earth were clearly defined. These include certain temperature parameters and the presence of water. Many studies of the Red Planet aimed to discover whether a suitable climate had developed there, and, if possible, to find traces of life.

Temperature on Mars

The Red Planet is an inhospitable world. A significant distance from the Sun significantly affects climatic conditions this cosmic body. Temperatures on Mars in Celsius vary on average from -155º to +20º. It is much colder here than on Earth, since the Sun, located one and a half times further away, warms the surface half as weakly. These not the most favorable conditions are aggravated by a rarefied atmosphere, which is highly transmittable to radiation, which, as is known, is destructive to all living things.

Such facts reduce to a minimum the chances of finding traces of existing or once extinct organisms on Mars. However, the point has not yet been made on this issue.

Determining factors

The temperature on Mars, as on Earth, depends on the position of the planet relative to the star. Its maximum value (20-33º) is observed during the day near the equator. Minimum values ​​(up to -155º) are reached close to South Pole. The entire territory of the planet is characterized by significant temperature fluctuations.

These differences affect both climatic features Mars, and on it appearance. The main feature of its surface, noticeable even from Earth, is the polar caps. As a result of significant heating in summer and cooling in winter, they undergo noticeable changes: they either decrease until they almost completely disappear, then they increase again.

Is there water on Mars?

When summer begins in one hemisphere, the corresponding polar cap begins to decrease in size. Due to the orientation of the planet's axis, as it approaches the perihelion point, the southern half faces the Sun. As a result, summers here are somewhat hotter, and the polar cap disappears almost completely. In the north, this effect is not observed.

Changes in the size of the polar caps have led scientists to believe that they consist of not entirely regular ice. The data collected to date allows us to assume that carbon dioxide plays a significant role in their formation, which large quantities contains the atmosphere of Mars. During the cold season, the temperature here reaches a point at which it usually turns into so-called dry ice. It is he who begins to melt with the arrival of summer. Water, according to scientists, is also present on the planet and makes up that part of the polar caps that remains unchanged even with increasing temperature (heating is not sufficient for its disappearance).

At the same time, the planet Mars cannot boast of the presence of the main source of life in the liquid state. For a long time, hope for its discovery was inspired by areas of the relief that closely resembled river beds. It is still not completely clear what could lead to their formation if there was never liquid water on the Red Planet. The atmosphere of Mars testifies in favor of a “dry” past. Its pressure is so insignificant that the boiling point of water falls at unusually low temperatures for the Earth, that is, it can only exist here in gaseous state. Theoretically, Mars could have had a denser atmosphere in the past, but then traces of it would have remained in the form of heavy inert gases. However, so far they have not been discovered.

Winds and storms

The temperature on Mars, or rather its changes, leads to fast movement air masses in the hemisphere where winter has set in. The resulting winds reach 170 m/s. On Earth, such phenomena would be accompanied by showers, but the Red Planet does not have sufficient water reserves for this. Dust storms occur here, so large that they sometimes cover the entire planet. The rest of the time, the weather is almost always clear (water is also needed to form a significant amount of clouds) and the air is very clear.

Despite the relatively small size of Mars and its unsuitability for life, scientists have high hopes for it. Here in the future it is planned to locate bases for the extraction of mineral resources and the implementation of various scientific activity. It is difficult to say how realistic such projects are, but the continuous development of technology indicates that humanity will soon be able to implement the most daring ideas.

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The planet Mars has an equatorial diameter of 6787 km, i.e. 0.53 of Earth's. The polar diameter is slightly smaller than the equatorial diameter (6753 km) due to polar compression equal to 1/191 (versus 1/298 for the Earth). Mars rotates around its axis in almost the same way as the Earth: its rotation period is 24 hours. 37 min. 23 seconds, which is only 41 minutes. 19 sec. longer than the Earth's rotation period. The rotation axis is inclined to the orbital plane at an angle of 65°, almost equal to the angle of inclination of the earth's axis (66°.5). This means that the change of day and night, as well as the change of seasons on Mars proceed almost the same as on Earth. There is also climatic zones, similar to those on Earth: tropical (latitude of the tropics ±25°), two temperate and two polar (latitude of the polar circles ±65°).

However, due to the distance of Mars from the Sun and the rarefied atmosphere of the planet, the climate of the planet is much harsher than that of Earth. The year of Mars (687 Earth or 668 Martian days) is almost twice as long as the Earth’s, which means the seasons last longer. Due to the large eccentricity of the orbit (0.09), the duration and nature of the seasons of Mars are different in the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet.

Thus, in the northern hemisphere of Mars, summers are long but cool, and winters are short and mild (Mars is close to perihelion at this time), while in the southern hemisphere, summers are short but warm, and winters are long and harsh. On the disk of Mars back in the middle of the 17th century. dark and light areas were observed. In 1784

V. Herschel drew attention to seasonal changes in the size of the white spots at the poles (polar caps). In 1882, the Italian astronomer G. Schiaparelli compiled detailed map Mars and gave a system of names for the details of its surface; highlighting among dark spots“seas” (in Latin mare), “lakes” (lacus), “bays” (sinus), “swamps” (palus), “straits” (freturn), “springs” (fens), “capes” (promontorium ) and "regions" (regio). All these terms were, of course, purely conditional.

The temperature regime on Mars looks like this. During the daytime near the equator, if Mars is near perihelion, the temperature can rise to +25°C (about 300°K). But by evening it drops to zero and below, and during the night the planet cools even more, since the thin, dry atmosphere of the planet cannot retain the heat received from the Sun during the day.

The average temperature on Mars is significantly lower than on Earth - about -40° C. Under the most favorable conditions in summer, on the daytime half of the planet the air warms up to 20° C - a completely acceptable temperature for the inhabitants of the Earth. But winter night frost can reach up to -125° C. When winter temperature even carbon dioxide freezes into dry ice. Such sudden temperature changes are caused by the fact that the thin atmosphere of Mars is not able to retain heat for a long time. The first measurements of the temperature of Mars using a thermometer placed at the focus of a reflecting telescope were carried out back in the early 20s. Measurements by V. Lampland in 1922 gave average temperature surface of Mars -28°C, E. Pettit and S. Nicholson obtained -13°C in 1924. A lower value was obtained in 1960. W. Sinton and J. Strong: -43°C. Later, in the 50s and 60s. Numerous temperature measurements were accumulated and generalized at various points on the surface of Mars, in different seasons and times of day. From these measurements it followed that during the day at the equator the temperature could reach +27°C, but by the morning it could reach -50°C.

The Viking spacecraft measured the temperature near the surface after landing on Mars. Despite the fact that at that time it was summer in the southern hemisphere, the temperature of the atmosphere near the surface in the morning was -160°C, but by the middle of the day it had risen to -30°C. The atmospheric pressure at the surface of the planet is 6 millibars (i.e. 0.006 atmospheres). Clouds of fine dust constantly float over the continents (deserts) of Mars, which is always lighter than the rocks from which it is formed. Dust also increases the brightness of continents in red rays.

Under the influence of winds and tornadoes, dust on Mars can rise into the atmosphere and remain in it for quite a long time. Severe dust storms were observed in the southern hemisphere of Mars in 1956, 1971 and 1973. As shown by spectral observations in infrared rays, the main component in the atmosphere of Mars (as in the atmosphere of Venus) is carbon dioxide (CO3). Long-term searches for oxygen and water vapor at first did not give any reliable results, and then it was found that there is no more than 0.3% oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars.