• Question: why is mars red?

    Asked by 242spaa48 to Heather, Helen, Hugh, Jane, Julian on 13 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by Chloe c.
    • Photo: Jane MacArthur

      Jane MacArthur answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      There is a fair amount of iron in the surface soil and dust on Mars, and this iron is rusted so it is red in appearance.

    • Photo: Helen Johnson

      Helen Johnson answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Exactly 🙂 Just like if you leave a bike outside in the rain and it starts to rust. The colour of mars comes from exactly the same thing. The iron is becoming “oxidised” and changing colour.

    • Photo: Julian Onions

      Julian Onions answered on 14 Nov 2014:

      It’s red because its angry at being much smaller than the Earth and left out in the cold!
      Not really, Jane and Helen have answered it properly!

Comments