The planet Mars has been named because of the god of war due to its bloody-red color that is very well seen and very easy to spot while watching it through the telescope. In the times of Pyfagor (IV century B.C.) the Greeks called this planet Faethon which means shining. Aristotle (IV century B.C) has named Mars Ares after the name of the god of war.
Mars is the first planet in the Solar System after the Earth that humans became interested in with hopes that there is a developed extraterrestrial life on it. I doubt that any other planet ever raised as many arguments and discussions as Mars did. Not only the scientists have argued but also people of different professions, occupations and ages.
The research methods became more perfect, astronomers of different generations came instead of one another, as well as the character of discussions. In the XIX century there have mainly been discussions about channels on Mars, about and about the presence of intelligent life there – the Martians. There have also been arguments about organic life on Mars.
To which planet so many science fiction novels, tales and stories have been devoted? Of course, to Mars. The writers’ fantasy has warmed up the interest of the general public to the mysterious planet. The astronomers were loaded with questions.
Decades have passed, research methods have changed, our knowledge about the red planet grew. In place of one mystery appeared others, the number of scientists that tried to penetrate Mars’s secrets, grew. Now, in the 21st century, the number of Mars’s secrets has only increased.
Mars revolves around the Sun on the orbit which radius us 1,524 а.е. in 687 Earth days. Mars’ s orbit is very prolonged. The distance to the sun changes during the year by 21 million kilometres, and the energy that Mars receives changes by 1,45 times. The distance to Earth changes from 55 to 102 million km.
