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Mars is well visible all evening early in the year, but will sink to the glare of the sunset by late summer, being in conjunction on September 15th, 2004. The way back to the evening sky will be slow: the next opposition will occur on November 7th, 2005. |
| Property | Unit | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Mass | kg | 6.42 x 10^23 |
| Diameter | km | 6787 |
| Mean density | kg/m^3 | 3940 |
| Escape velocity | m/sec | 5000 |
| Average distance from Sun | AU | 1.524 |
| Rotation period (length of day) | Earth days | 1.026 |
| Revolution period (length of year) | Earth days | 686.98 |
| Obliquity (tilt of axis) | degrees | 25 |
| Orbit inclination | degrees | 1.85 |
| Orbit eccentricity | deviation from circular | 0.093 |
| Maximum surface temperature | ēK (ēC) | 310 (+37) |
| Minimum surface temperature | ēK (ēC) | 150 |
| Visual geometric albedo | ratio (0 to 1) | 0.15 |
| Highest point above surrounding lava plains Olympus Mons |
km | 24 |
| Atmospheric components | carbon dioxide nitrogen argon |
95% 3% 1.6% |
| Surface materials | basaltic rock altered materials |