Mars

^s>^^y Wm ''A/. -rV '/-'M y ,^C .t^T^ LM BR J QB641 .3494^ 1987 .;'.v: SEYMOUR SIMON MORROW JUNIOR BOOKS New York ^ h^wrp MM.LS " All PICTURE CREDITS: photographs courtesy of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (California Institute of Technology )/NASA, except page 4, courtesy of Richard Dreiser, The Yerkes Observatory. Drawing on page 6 by Todd Radom. © 1 987 by Seymour Simon 1987 by William Morrow and Company, Text copyright Illustrations copyright © No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval All rights reserved. system, without permission in writing from the Publisher Inquiries should William be addressed to Morrow and Company, Inc., 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019. Printed in Italy 3456789 10 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Simon, Seymour. Mars, Summary: Text and photographs describe features of the red planet. ^yy Mars (Planet)— Juvenile literature. (1. Mars ( Planet)] L Title QB64l_S4941987_ 86-31106 523 4'3 is^ 0-688-06584-8 ISBN 0-688-06585-6 (lib. bdg.) I. — Inc. lo H. G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs, who shaped my childhood visions of Mars a^^^r^^^^. ars looks like a bright star in the night sky. Mars a planet. is Mars appears so bright because But it is closer to us than any other planet except Venus. Mars it is sometimes called the "Red Planet" because shines with a reddish or orange color. sand years ago, the planet's red color Romans think named Mars, after their god of war. it of blood Two thou- made the and war. So the Romans « M,ars the fourth planet from the sun, after Mer- is cury, Venus, and our own planet. Earth. 140 million miles from the sun than Mars — 50 miles farther away from the sun than Earth. a smaller planet than Earth, is more million It is also 4,218 miles across. If Earth were hollow, seven planets the size of Mars could fit inside. Earth and Mars travel called orbits. Earth takes the sun. But Mars orbit the sun. A is around the sun one farther year, is takes longer to 687 Earth almost twice as long as a year on Earth. day is Earth. paths 365 days, to orbit away and Martian year in A days, Martian only about half an hour longer than a day on ' i^w^:' A,.bout named Giovanni his telescope. on the lines ago, an Italian astronomer one hundred years Schiapareili looked at Mars through He thought he saw some surface of the planet. canali, the Italian word He straight, dark called them for channels.