Orbital eccentricity Mars has the second-most eccentric orbit in our solar system. At the scale of this diagram, Mars’ perihelion is about 15 feet closer to the Sun, and its aphelion is a corresponding distance farther out. Light from the Sun takes between 11.5 and 13.9 minutes to reach Mars.
More interesting facts
When we look up at Mars, it seems to shine with a red color. We are seeing a reflection of the red rocks and soil on much of its surface.
In some ways, Mars is similar to the Earth, as both planets have canyons, valleys, deserts, volcanoes, and polar ice caps. However, Mars is much smaller than the Earth, and its atmosphere is much thinner.
Currently there are some unmanned probes orbiting Mars, while others are crawling across its surface, each of them gathering different kinds of scientific information about the planet.
Mars has two very small moons (too small to show at the scale of this model). One of them, Phobos, orbits closer to its host planet than any other known moon. At the scale of this Solar System model, Phobos would be a microscopic particle orbiting Mars at a distance of only 2 millimeters!
You can view these links to learn even more about Mars:
The Mars image on this page was taken in 2015 by the Curiosity rover, and is courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. If you arrived at this page by scanning a QR code, and want more information, please see the Introduction page.
