The temperature on Mars is a cold mystery. Temperature of the red planet Daytime temperature on Mars

The climate on Mars, although unfavorable for life, is still closest to the earth. Presumably in the past Mars climate could have been warmer and wetter, and liquid water was present on the surface and it even rained.

Mars is the most likely target for the first manned expedition to another planet.

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atmospheric composition

The atmosphere of Mars is more rarefied than the air shell of the Earth, and 95.9% consists of carbon dioxide, about 1.9% is nitrogen and 2% argon. The oxygen content is 0.14%. The average atmospheric pressure at the surface is 160 times less than at the Earth's surface.

The mass of the atmosphere during the year varies greatly due to condensation in winter and evaporation in summer, large volumes of carbon dioxide at the poles, in the polar caps.

Cloud cover and precipitation

There is very little water vapor in the Martian atmosphere, but at low pressure and temperature, it is in a state close to saturation, and often collects in clouds. Martian clouds are rather inexpressive compared to those on Earth.

Studies conducted by the Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965 showed that there is currently no liquid water on Mars, but data from NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers indicate the presence of water in the past. On July 31, 2008, water in the state of ice was discovered on Mars at the landing site of NASA's Phoenix spacecraft. The device found ice deposits directly in the ground.

There are several facts in support of the claim of the presence of water on the surface of the planet in the past. First, minerals have been found that could only form as a result of prolonged exposure to water. Secondly, very old craters are practically wiped off the face of Mars. The modern atmosphere could not cause such destruction. The study of the rate of formation and erosion of craters made it possible to establish that wind and water destroyed them most of all about 3.5 billion years ago. Many gullies have approximately the same age.

NASA announced on September 28, 2015 that Mars currently has seasonal liquid salt water flows. These formations manifest themselves in the warm season and disappear - in the cold. Planetary scientists came to their conclusions by analyzing high-quality images obtained by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) scientific instrument of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Martian orbiter.

Temperature

The average temperature on Mars is much lower than on Earth - about -40°C. Under the most favorable conditions in the summer in the daytime half of the planet, the atmosphere warms up to 20 ° C - quite an acceptable temperature for the inhabitants of the Earth. But on winter nights, frost can reach -125°C. At winter temperatures, even carbon dioxide freezes, turning into dry ice. Such sharp temperature drops are caused by the fact that the rarefied atmosphere of Mars is not able to retain heat for a long time. As a result of numerous measurements of temperatures at various points on the surface of Mars, it turns out that during the day at the equator the temperature can reach up to + 27 ° C, but by morning it drops to -50 ° C.

There are temperature oases on Mars, in the areas of the "lake" Phoenix (Sun Plateau) and the land of Noah, the temperature difference is from -53 ° C to + 22 ° C in summer and from -103 ° C to -43 ° C in winter. Thus, Mars is a very cold world, but the climate there is not much harsher than in Antarctica.

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The planet Mars has an equatorial diameter of 6787 km, i.e. 0.53 of the Earth's. The polar diameter is somewhat less than the equatorial one (6753 km) due to the polar compression equal to 1/191 (against 1/298 near the Earth). Mars rotates on its axis in much the same way as the Earth: its period of rotation is 24 hours. 37 min. 23 seconds, which is only 41 minutes. 19 sec. longer than the Earth's rotation period. The axis of rotation is inclined to the plane of the orbit at an angle of 65°, almost equal to the angle of inclination of the earth's axis (66°.5). This means that the change of day and night, as well as the change of seasons on Mars, proceed in almost the same way as on Earth. There are also climatic zones similar to those on Earth: tropical (tropical latitude ± 25 °), two temperate and two polar (polar circle latitude ± 65 °).

However, due to the remoteness of Mars from the Sun and the rarefaction of the atmosphere, the climate of the planet is much more severe than that of the earth. The year of Mars (687 Earth or 668 Martian days) is almost twice as long as the Earth, which means that the seasons last longer. Due to the large eccentricity of the orbit (0.09), the duration and nature of the seasons of Mars are different in the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet.

Thus, in the northern hemisphere of Mars, summers are long but cool, and winters are short and mild (Mars is close to perihelion at this time), while in the southern hemisphere, summers are short but warm, and winters are long and severe. On the disk of Mars in the middle of the XVII century. dark and light areas were seen. In 1784

V. Herschel drew attention to seasonal changes in the size of white spots near the poles (polar caps). In 1882, the Italian astronomer J. Schiaparelli compiled a detailed map of Mars and gave a system of names for the details of its surface; highlighting among the dark spots "seas" (in Latin mare), "lakes" (lacus), "bays" (sinus), "swamps" (palus), "straits" (freturn), "sources" (fens), " capes" (promontorium) and "regions" (regio). All these terms were, of course, purely conventional.

The temperature regime on Mars looks like this. In the daytime around the equator, if Mars is near perihelion, the temperature can rise to +25°C (about 300°K). But by evening, it drops to zero and below, and during the night the planet cools even more, since the rarefied dry atmosphere of the planet cannot retain the heat received from the Sun during the day.

The average temperature on Mars is much lower than on Earth - about -40 ° C. Under the most favorable conditions in the summer in the daytime half of the planet, the air warms up to 20 ° C - quite an acceptable temperature for the inhabitants of the Earth. But on a winter night, frost can reach up to -125 ° C. At winter temperatures, even carbon dioxide freezes, turning into dry ice. Such sharp temperature drops are caused by the fact that the rarefied atmosphere of Mars is not able to retain heat for a long time. The first measurements of the temperature of Mars using a thermometer placed at the focus of a reflecting telescope were carried out as early as the early 1920s. Measurements by W. Lampland in 1922 gave an average surface temperature of Mars of -28°C, E. Pettit and S. Nicholson in 1924 obtained -13°C. A lower value was obtained in 1960. W. Sinton and J. Strong: -43°C. Later, in the 50s and 60s. Numerous temperature measurements were accumulated and summarized at various points on the surface of Mars, in different seasons and times of the day. From these measurements, it followed that during the day at the equator the temperature can reach up to +27°C, but by morning it can reach -50°C.

The Viking spacecraft measured the temperature near the surface after landing on Mars. Despite the fact that at that time it was summer in the southern hemisphere, the temperature of the atmosphere near the surface in the morning was -160°C, but by the middle of the day it rose to -30°C. The pressure of the atmosphere at the surface of the planet is 6 millibars (i.e. 0.006 atmospheres). Above the continents (deserts) of Mars, clouds of fine dust constantly rush, which is always lighter than the rocks from which it is formed. Dust also increases the brightness of the continents in the red rays.

Under the influence of winds and tornadoes, dust on Mars can rise into the atmosphere and stay in it for quite some time. Strong dust storms were observed in the southern hemisphere of Mars in 1956, 1971 and 1973. As shown by spectral observations in infrared rays, in the atmosphere of Mars (as in the atmosphere of Venus) the main component is carbon dioxide (CO3). Long-term searches for oxygen and water vapor at first did not give reliable results at all, and then it was found that oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars is no more than 0.3%.

“We have bad weather on Mars!” - so it was said in one poem about astronauts, composed in those days when it was still surrounded by a halo of romance ... But really, what is the weather like on the "red planet"?

Speaking of the weather on Earth, we primarily mean the state of the atmosphere. On Mars, it is also there - but not the same as ours. The fact is that Mars, unlike the Earth, does not have a magnetic field that would hold the atmosphere - and the solar wind (a stream of ionized particles from the solar corona) destroys it. Therefore, the atmospheric pressure at the planet's surface is 160 times lower than the earth's. This cannot protect the planet from daily temperature fluctuations (since it does not prevent the radiation of thermal energy into space), therefore, at the equator, the air temperature, rising to +30 ° C during the day, drops to -80 ° C at night, and even lower at the poles - up to -143°C.

But what is very similar for our planets is the angle of inclination of the axis of rotation, “responsible” for the change of seasons on the planet (for the Earth it is 23.439281, and for Mars - 25.19, as you can see - not such a big difference ), so there is also a change of seasons on Mars - they only last twice as long (after all, the Martian year is almost 2 times longer than the earth's - 687 Earth days). There are also climatic zones, the seasons differ from hemisphere to hemisphere.

So, in the northern hemisphere, winter comes when Mars is closest to the Sun, and in the southern hemisphere, when it moves away, in summer everything happens the other way around. Therefore, winters in the northern hemisphere are shorter and warmer than in the southern, and summers are longer, but colder.

But most noticeable (at least to an observer from the ground) is the change of seasons in the polar regions covered with ice caps. They never completely disappear, but their size changes. In winter, the distance from the south pole to the border of the south polar cap is half the distance to the equator, and at the north pole - a third of this distance. With the advent of spring, the polar caps decrease, “retreating” towards the poles. At the same time, “dry ice” (frozen carbon dioxide), which makes up the upper layer of ice caps, evaporates, and in the gaseous state is carried by the wind to the opposite pole, where winter sets in at that time - and (therefore, the cap grows at the opposite pole).

On Earth, being interested in the weather forecast, we first of all ask ourselves the question: will it rain? So, on Mars you can not be afraid of rain - at such a low atmospheric pressure, water in a liquid state cannot exist. But snow does happen. So, the snow fell on Mars in 1979 in the landing area of ​​the Viking-2 spacecraft, and did not melt for quite a long time - several months.

In lowlands, at the bottom of craters and canyons, there is often fog during the cold hours of the day, and the water vapor present in the atmosphere forms clouds.

But what we should be wary of on Mars (if we ever go there) is hurricane winds, tornadoes and dust storms. Wind speeds of up to 100 m/s are common on Mars, and due to the low gravity, the winds raise a huge amount of dust into the air.

The largest dust storms originate in the southern hemisphere of Mars in the spring (when the planet warms up quickly) - and can drag on for a long time and cover vast territories. So, from September 1971 to January 1972, a dust storm raged on Mars, engulfing the entire planet - about a billion tons of dust was raised to a 10-kilometer height. This storm almost disrupted the mission of the Mariner 9 spacecraft - due to the dense dust veil, the surface of the planet was impossible to observe. The Mariner's computer had to delay photography (and still no one could vouch for success - it was impossible to predict when the storm would stop).

There are also "dust devils" on Mars - whirlwinds that raise dust and sand into the air. On Earth, such a phenomenon occurs in deserts, but Mars is the entire desert, and such a dusty whirlwind can occur anywhere.

As you can see, the climate of Mars is really not very favorable. And in order for “apple trees to bloom” there, one will either have to change the planet very much, or wait until nature does it ... In any case, mass settlement of Mars is unlikely to take place in the foreseeable future.

Although Mars climate closest to the earth, it is not very favorable for life.

The planet's atmosphere is thinner than Earth's. It contains ninety-five percent carbon dioxide, four percent nitrogen and argon, and only one percent oxygen and water vapor.

Compared to Earth, the average atmospheric pressure on Mars is one hundred and sixty times less. Due to evaporation in summer and condensation in winter, as well as a large amount of carbon dioxide at the poles, in the polar caps, the mass of the atmosphere varies greatly during the year.

Despite the fact that the Martian atmosphere contains very little water vapor, at low temperature and pressure, being in a state close to saturation, it often collects in clouds. Observations made by spacecraft have shown that there are wavy, cirrus and lee clouds on Mars.

In the cold season, fogs often rise at the bottom of the craters and over the lowlands. Sometimes there is thin snow.

Spacecraft studies have shown that there is currently no liquid water on Mars, but there is evidence of its presence in the past. In July 2008, NASA's Phoenix spacecraft discovered water in the state of ice in the ground. The average temperature on Mars is around -40 degrees Celsius. In the daytime half of the planet, the temperature rises to 20 degrees Celsius in summer, but in winter, nighttime temperatures can drop to -125 degrees Celsius.

The rarefied atmosphere of Mars cannot retain heat for a long time, which explains the sharp temperature drops. Thus, we can say that Mars has a rather harsh climate, but it is not much colder there than in Antarctica.

Because of the temperature difference on Mars, strong winds often blow. Their speed reaches one hundred meters per second. Due to the small force of gravity, the winds raise huge clouds of dust. On Mars, long-lasting dust storms often rage. For example, one of them raged from September 1971 to January 1972 and raised about a billion tons of dust into the atmosphere to a height of ten kilometers. The formation of dust tornadoes on Mars is also associated with temperature differences.

The axis of rotation of the Earth is inclined to the orbital plane by 23.4 degrees, and of Mars - by 23.9 degrees, the Martian day almost coincides with the Earth, therefore, on Mars, as on Earth, there is a change of seasons. In the polar regions, seasonal changes are most pronounced. In winter, the polar caps cover a large area. Winters in the southern hemisphere are long and cold, while those in the northern hemisphere are short and relatively mild. In spring, the polar caps are significantly reduced, but even in summer they do not disappear completely. And summer on Mars in the southern hemisphere is short and relatively warm, in the northern hemisphere it is long and cool.

Foreign researchers of Mars were surprised by an abnormally warm spring. Russian scientists have known about this since 2002

The red planet never ceases to amaze earthlings. Recently, the Curiosity rover found river gravel there, a pyramid-shaped stone, transmitted to Earth a photo of a beautiful solar eclipse ... And also, according to Spanish researchers who put their temperature sensors on the rover, it got unusually warm on Mars - up to +6. For the Martian spring that is now observed there, this is just a resort. Compatriots of Salvador Dali say that if the trend continues, then talk about colonization will become more than real. But is it really warmer on Mars than before? What would earthlings see if they were now on this planet? "MK" learned this by talking with Russian scientists from the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Some of them have recently returned from an international conference in Madrid.

So, the REMS meteorological station, installed aboard the Curiosity rover, found that the spring that came to Mars turned out to be unexpectedly warm. At least this is how the representatives of the scientific team managing the work of the rover presented the news. According to scientists, in particular Felipe Gomez (Felipe Gomez) from the Spanish Center for Astrobiology, the heat on Mars surprised him and his colleagues.

The landing site of Curiosity on August 6 was the descent of Bradbury in the southern hemisphere of the Red Planet. Since the Martian spring is now approaching there, scientists are closely monitoring its features. Half the time since landing, the daytime temperatures measured by the REMS station have been above freezing, they said. Thus, the average daily temperature was +6 degrees during the day and -70 degrees at night. This surprised scientists, who, in their own words, expected a colder Martian day. “The fact that Mars is so “warm” during daylight hours surprised and interested us in itself. If this warming continues into summer, we'll see temperatures of +20 or more, which is great when you look at Mars from a colonization standpoint. It is likely that daytime temperatures will be able to keep the water in a liquid state. But it is still difficult to say whether such temperatures are the norm or just an anomaly,” continued Gomez.

We asked the employees of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences to solve the Gomez problem.

- The indicated temperatures are the norm for a Martian spring. In general, the weather there is very stable, we can predict it much more accurately than on Earth. And all because there is no turbulence on Mars (irregular mutual movements in the atmosphere), - explains MIPT associate professor, senior researcher at IKI RAS Alexander RODIN.

Why then did the spring warmth surprise the Spaniards?

“They are on the rise now, because their Center for Astrobiology installed their weather sensors on Curiosity, and at any opportunity they are looking for an excuse to talk about the weather. What Felipe Gomez said, who is more of a science official than a researcher, is, of course, an exaggeration. Spanish sensors could detect some slight increase in temperature, but it does not indicate a serious trend.

According to Rodin, a global dust storm could have led to a slight warming (these happen on Mars 1-2 times a year, just during the period when spring or summer is in the southern hemisphere). However, these storms are so powerful that they cover the entire planet with their plume for 100-150 days. And since the dust absorbs the sun's rays and converts their energy into heat, on Mars during such storms the average daily temperature can rise. The origin of such storms is currently a mystery to meteorologists. Apart from storms, the weather on Mars is almost always stable and predictable. Due to the very thin atmosphere, daytime heat quickly evaporates - and at night the surface of the planet can cool down by 100 degrees at once. The average daily temperature on Mars is almost always -50 degrees. However, in the hottest spots, daytime temperatures can reach +20...30 degrees in the summer.

By the way, Rodin’s words are also confirmed by the head of the laboratory of space gamma spectroscopy Igor MITROFANOV, he is also the developer of the Russian device HAND, which is now working on board the American Martian satellite Mars Odyssey.

“HAND has been “observing” seasonal processes on the Red Planet for about 5 Martian years continuously since February 2002,” says Mitrofanov. “We are recording the thickness of the winter cover of “dry snow” from atmospheric carbon dioxide in the northern and southern hemispheres. So far, the seasonal profile of accumulation and evaporation of the Martian "dry snow" that we have measured so far repeats remarkably accurately every Martian year. This year is no exception. In the southern hemisphere of Mars comes the usual Martian spring. On a summer day at the equator of Mars, the surface temperature can reach +30 degrees Celsius (read like we have in Moscow).

By the way, according to Mitrofanov, if people landed on Mars in the spring, an amazing sight would await them here - carbon dioxide geysers.

Spring geysers on Mars.

“In the spring, on Earth, the snow melts and turns into water,” says Igor Mitrofanov. - Therefore, streams flow on Earth in spring. But on Mars, snow is made of frozen carbon dioxide, and when the temperature rises, it turns into carbon dioxide. This happens as follows: the spring sun's rays penetrate the snow cover and warm the soil surface. As a result, carbon dioxide arises under a layer of dry snow, which gradually accumulates in the near-surface space. The pressure of the gas increases, and somewhere in the upper layer of "dry snow" a crack forms, through which the accumulated gas suddenly breaks out to the surface with noise. Such is the nature of springtime Martian geysers.

What else was discussed at the conference in Madrid

Polar vortices, very reminiscent of Venusian ones, have been discovered on Titan. Since the atmospheres on these planets move faster than the planets themselves, the vortices are very powerful formations that do not collapse for a long time. The discovery of vortices on Titan allows scientists to understand the general nature of the laws of nature operating on different planets.

Among the exoplanets (planets located outside the solar system) similar to the Earth has not yet been found. But Super-Earths have been discovered, the mass of which is 10 times the mass of our planet. True, they are more like Venus.