Astroscopes - The Enchanted Astrologer/Astroscopes - The Enchanted Astrologer.iso/cdrom/planets/mars.dat

Text File | 1994-10-21 | 2KB | 31 lines

    Mars is the planet of willpower, energy, sexual drive, and aggressive
behavior. Expressed in its positive form, Mars gives a person great
energy, the will to carry out daunting tasks, endurance, a strong sexual
drive, an adventurous nature, and an independent-minded and assertive
personality.
    Expressed in its negative form, Mars instills recklessness,
impatience, a quick temper, and an argumentative and overly aggressive
personality.

    Mars, the fourth planet from the sun, was named after the Roman god
of war. Mars has two small moons called Phobos and Deimos. Orbiting
the Sun every 1.88 years, Mars is roughly 142 million miles from the
sun (or 53 percent further from the sun than the earth). The temperature
on its surface ranges from -189 to 63 degrees Fahrenheit.
    At its closes approach to the earth (34 million miles), Mars is the
brightest object in the night sky after Venus. Its distinctly reddish
color results from its heavily oxidized surface. Its thin atmosphere
(the pressure is only 0.6 percent of earth's) is comprised mainly of
carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen, argon, and oxygen.
    Mars's poles are covered with ice. The northern hemisphere is less
cratered than the southern hemisphere, leading scientists to believe
that its surface is younger (consisting of relatively recent lava flows).
Mount Olympus is the largest volcanic structure on Mars (or anywhere
else in the solar system), jutting 15.5 miles (82,000 feet) above the
surface. Several American Mariner spacecraft have explored Mars; in
1976 two Viking lander crafts even landed on the surface.

    In Roman mythology, Mars was the god of war and the son of Jupiter
(king of the gods). Since Mars fathered Romulus (the legendary founder
of Rome), he was generally regarded as the father of the Roman people.