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solar system > Mars > Flashcards

Mars Flashcards

1
Q

what is the orbit value of mars from the sun ?

A

1.30 AU, 1.67 AU

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2
Q

what is the mass of mars compared to earth ?

A

0.11 x

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3
Q

what is the radius of mars compared to earth ?

A

0.53 x

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4
Q

what is the surface gravity of mars?

A

3.71 m/s^2

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5
Q

what did christiaan hygens discover in 1659?

A

first telescopic drawings. Showed sytris major and concluded that the rotation period about 24 hrs.

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6
Q

what did Italian Cassini in 1666 observe ?

A

white caps covering the poles

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7
Q

what did Maraldi in 1719 find?

A

caps were not centred exactly at the poles of rotation

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8
Q

what did William Herschel observe between 1777 and 1783?

A

rotation period very close to true value
concluded that mars atmosphere must be very thin, based on stellar occultation (mars passing in front of a star)
axial inclination in 24 degree while earth is 23.5 degree so has seasons like the earth

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9
Q

what are surface features of mars?

A 
dark patches (maybe seas)
bright orange areas (continents)
(atmosphere is too thin and dry for oceans to exist)
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10
Q

What was Mariner 4 and what did it find out? (1965)

A

10000km flyby. Atmosphere mostly CO2, only 10mb at ground. Dark areas were just low-albedo features, not all were depressions, and not vegetation.

sytris major is a lofty plateau Surface is cratered.

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11
Q

What did mariner 9 find out in 1971?

A

mapped the surface. process was stymied for several months by a global dust storm.
discovered several gigantic volcanoes and a canyon.

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12
Q

what did the vikings in 1975 find?

A

mapped the surface in more detail and to act as relays the landers. revealed a rock strewn landscape covered in fine grain materual, rusty reed in colour with a pink sky. Dunes and wind blown dust. Old stream beds

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13
Q

where did viking 1 land?

A

in Chryse, only 7.5m from a large boulder

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14
Q

where did viking 2 land?

A

utopia?

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15
Q

What was the Mars Pathfinder in 1996?

A

sent a robotic rover (sojourner) to explore surface. touched down 1997

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16
Q

What did the pathfinder find?

A

views of surface. Many rocks
details of composition of the rocks- high silica content
measurements of the martian weather. temp ranged from -12 degree down to -76 degree
frequent dust devils

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17
Q

when was the mars global surveyor launched and what is its importance?

A

november 1996, arrived sep 1997. providing high-resolution images of surface resolutions down to less than 10m
10x of viking

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18
Q

when was the Mars Odyssey launched and what is its importance?

A

launched in april 2001 and arrived in october 2001. Mapping the amount and distribution of chemical elements and minerals that make up surface

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19
Q

when was the mars express launched and what is its importance?

A

launched 2 june 2003 and arrived December 2003, but the Beagle 2 lander failed

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20
Q

When was the mars exploration rover mission launched and what was its importance?

A

launched in June and July 2003, reaching mars in jan 2004. provided evidence for liquid water flowing on surface in past

21
Q

when was the mars reconnaissance Orbiter launched and what was its importance?

A

august 2005 arrived march 2006. maps martian terrain and weather, looking for suitable landing sites for future

22
Q

When was the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander launched and what is its importance?

A

launched august 2007 and arrived may 2008. lander has a 2.5m long robotic arm and digs 1m into martian soil. found water ice at landing site.

23
Q

when was the NASA curiosity rover launched and what is its importance?

A

launched in nov 2011 and arrived august 2012

studies climate and geology of mars, looks for signs of microbial life.

24
Q

When was the ESA trace gas orbiter launched and what is its importance?

A

launched march 2016. study methane and other trace gases.

25
Q

what is the atmosphere of mars like?

A

thin, small heat capacity, water freezes on surface, cant have liquid water due to low pressure (1% of earths)

26
Q

how much of mars atmosphere is carbon dioxide? how much nitrogen? h20?

A

95%

  1. 7%
  2. 1%
27
Q

what temperature is the surface of mars?

A

-120-40 degrees because of lack of atmosphere

28
Q

why does mars have seasons?

A

variation in size of polar ice caps

29
Q

what is the perihelion and aphelion on mars?

A

because mars is elliptical (more than mars)
perihelion 1.38 AU
aphelion 1.67 AU

30
Q

Why are nothern seasons are less extreme than the southern ones?

A

mars is closest during nothern winter, gets 1.45 times solar energy than when furthest away in northern summer

31
Q

why does the nothern polar cap expose its water ice beneath annually?

A

it loses all of its co2

32
Q

why does the southern cap receive more solar energy in summer?

A

nothern cap is dirty, covered with dust lower albedo, absorbs more solar energy and melts quicker. Southern summers generate dust storms, which cover nothern cap in winter.

33
Q

what are the two types of areas on the surface of mars?

A

plains dominate northern hemisphere- low elevation regions covered with lava flows

rough, cratered terrain in south. mostly highlands, older than lowlands

34
Q

what is Tharsis?

A

huge highland region, covers quarter of surface and 6km above mean surface level. formed by tectonic activity

35
Q

what do craters look like and what different craters are there?

A

circular raised rims and depressed floors

rampart craters. Sheet of ejecta material about a crater in radius

pedestal craters: situated on well developed platforms standing above the surrounding plains

36
Q

what do craters indicate?

A

that debris moves across the ground as a surface-hugging and largely coherent lubricated flow.

37
Q

where are the most basins and which is the largest?

A

south

Hellas, 1800 km in diameter and 3km deep.

38
Q

what features on the surface are formed by wind effects?

A

dunes: vast field of dunes visible as dark belt. dunes can overlie laminated polar terrain. Surface deposited in layers and then eroded at edges. stair step structure

Yardings: wind eroded linear features flat topped. up to 1km wide and 50km long.

39
Q

What are the three kinds of channels?

A

run off: v-shapes cross section, increase downstream and have tributary networks. Found in older terrain only

Outflow: widest and deepest near source. Formed by catastrophic flooding

Fretted: flat floor, steep walls and angular stretches along its course. Formed by mass movement of material due to gravity.

40
Q

what are the Valles Marineris?

A

canyons extending some 4500km in length, south of equator, east of tharsis bulge and ends in immense region of chaotic terrain.

7km deep and 200km wide
landslides on rim

half of a crater remains on rim, half crashed on valley floor

41
Q

what is the olympus mons ?

A

a shield volcano, rises to 27km above mean surface, base of 700km accross. gentle slopes 6 degree.

summit has enormous caldera 80km in diameter

42
Q

what do the sizes of the shield volcanoes imply?

A

no continental drift

the hot spots would of moved away from volcanoes- stopping from getting so big

43
Q

why may mars not have a fluid core?

A

no magnetic field

44
Q

what are the features of surface rocks?

A

igneous rocks, mainly basalt- high silicon and iron content

rover found sphere like grains of grey hematite (iron oxide) blueberries (berry bowl)

45
Q

can liquid water appear on mars?

A

briefly on warmest of summer days- salty composition allows it to exist as liquid at well below 0 degree.

46
Q

is there evidence for subsurface water?

A

yes, radar mapping- a lake near south pole (mars express)

47
Q

what evidence shows that years ago liquid water was abundant by comets and asteroids?

A

comes from chemistry of martian minerals, both on mars and meteorites from mars.

48
Q

how would liquid water be possible?

A

if atmosphere was thicker and mars was warmer.

may have had magnetic field from liquid core now solidified- no magnetic field now

solar system (9 decks)

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