Is Mars actually as red as individuals state it is?– Jasmine, age 14, Everson, Washington

Individuals from cultures throughout the world have actually been taking a look at Mars considering that ancient times. Since it appears reddish, it has actually typically been called the red world.

The English name for the world originates from the Romanswho called it after their god of war due to the fact that its color advised them of blood. In truth, the reddish color of Mars originates from iron oxide in the rocks and dust covering its surface area.

Your blood is likewise red due to the fact that of a mix of iron and oxygen in a particle called hemoglobin. In a method, the ancient connection in between the world Mars and blood wasn’t entirely incorrect. Rust, which is a typical type of iron oxide discovered here in the world, likewise typically has a reddish color.

In my present research study on exoplanetsI observe various kinds of signals from worlds beyond EarthGreat deals of intriguing physics enters into how scientists view the colors of worlds and stars through various kinds of telescopes.

Observing Mars with probes

If you look carefully at photos of Mars taken by rovers on its surface area, you can see that the majority of the world isn’t simply red, however more of a rusty brown or tan color.

Probes sent out from Earth have actually taken photos revealing rocks with a rusty color. A 1976 photo from the Viking landerthe really first spacecraft to arrive at Mars, reveals the Martian ground covered with a layer of rusty orange dust.

Not all of Mars’surface area has the exact same color. At the poles, its ice caps appear white. These ice caps consist of frozen water, like the ice we normally discover in the world, however these ice caps are likewise covered by a layer of frozen co2 — solidified carbon dioxide.

This layer of solidified carbon dioxide can vaporize really rapidly when sunshine shines on it and grows back once again when it ends up being dark. This procedure triggers the white ice caps to grow and diminish in size depending upon the Martian seasons.

Related: Long, dark ‘streaks’ found on Mars aren’t what researchers believed

Beyond noticeable light

Mars likewise releases light in colors that you can’t see with your eyes however that researchers can determine with unique cams on telescopes.

Light itself can be considered not just as a wave however likewise as a stream of particles called photonsThe quantity of energy brought by each photon is connected to its color. Blue and violet photons have more energy than orange and red photons.

Ultraviolet photons have much more energy than the photons you can see with your eyes. These photons are discovered in direct sunshine, and due to the fact that they have a lot energy, they can harm the cells in your body. You can utilize sun block to secure yourself from them.

Infrared photons have less energy than the photons you can see with your eyes, and you do not require any unique defense from them. This is how some kinds of night-vision safety glasses work: They can see light in the infrared spectrum in addition to the noticeable color spectrum. Researchers can take photos of Mars in the infrared spectrum utilizing unique video cameras that work practically like night-vision safety glasses for telescopes.

The colors on the infrared photo aren’t actually what the infrared light appears like, since you can’t see those colors with your eyes. They are called “false colors,” and scientists include them to take a look at the photo more quickly.

When you compare the noticeable color photo and the infrared photo, you can see a few of the exact same functions– and the ice caps show up in both sets of colors.

NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, introduced in 2013, has actually even taken photos with ultraviolet lightoffering researchers a various view of both the surface area of Mars and its environment.

Each brand-new kind of photo informs researchers more about the Martian landscape. They intend to utilize these information to respond to concerns about how Mars formed, the length of time it had active volcanoeswhere its environment originated from and whether it had liquid water on its surface area

Astronomers are constantly trying to find brand-new methods to take telescope images beyond the routine noticeable spectrumThey can even make images utilizing radio wavesmicrowaves, X-rays and gamma rays. Each part of the spectrum they can utilize to take a look at a things in area represents brand-new info they can gain from.

Although individuals have actually been taking a look at Mars given that ancient times, we still have much to learn more about this interesting next-door neighbor.

This edited short article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Check out the initial short article