Hobbies And Interests
Distance to Sun
Mars has an eccentric orbit, which means that at certain points, Mars is closer to the sun, and at other points, it is farther way from the sun. The closer of the two orbital radii, called perihelion, is 128.6 million miles, where the farther of the two radii, called aphelion, is 154.7 million miles. The reason that the distance to the sun changes over the length of a Martian year is that Earth and Jupiter play tug of war with the rocky planet.
Distance Around the Sun
The calculated circumference, or the distance that Mars travels around the sun is calculated to be 977,388,717 miles, according to the formula PI times the square root of 2, times the quantity ½ the long axis squared plus ½ the short axis squared. Therefore, using a mathematical formula called the distance formula, Distance = rate of speed x time, we can calculate that Mars is moving at about 1,422,691 miles per Earth day.
Length of Time
It takes 687 Earth days for Mars to travel once around the sun, which is one Martian year. If a human being were born on Mars, given our average life expectancy of eighty Earth years old, then we would live an average of forty-two years and six months on Mars. This length of time difference is due to the fact that Mars is further from the sun than Earth.
Position
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It is the last of the rocky interior planets, separated from the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune by a debris field called the asteroid belt. Its position in the sky is slightly above the tree line, appearing red in the sky.
Direction
Mars travels counterclockwise, like Earth. From observatories on Earth, Mars appears to go backwards across the sky when Earth and Mars pass close to each other. This is because Earth has a closer orbit and a shorter distance to travel, which allows us to pass by the red planet, making it appear that Mars is moving backward.