what is the weather on mars like?
407043
Thin air, but there are storms with high velocity winds.  Very cold at the poles, and cold elsewhere with a bright sun.  No clouds, but the wind picks up a lot of dust and sand.
670782
LIFE ON MARS.\n\nIn 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli produced the first "modern" map of Mars, on which he showed a system of what he called canali. Although canali in Italian means "channel", without the implication of being an artificial feature, the word was commonly translated into English as "canal".\n\n\nIn 1910, Percival Lowell captured the imagination of the public with his book Mars As the Abode of Life. Based on his extensive visual observations (and as we know today, an active imagination) Lowell painted a compelling portrait of a dying planet, whose inhabitants had constructed a vast irrigation system to distribute water from the polar regions to the population centers nearer the equator.\n\nDespite its appeal to the public, the astronomical community never gave serious credence to the details of Lowell's theory. The failure of many observers to confirm the existence of the canals eventually led scientists to suspect that their colleagues had been fooled into seeing the canals, by the difficulty in resolving fine detail from Earth and their own desire to believe. (This map, constructed from Viking orbiter images in the same format as Schiaparelli's -- south is up -- shows no sign of the canals, though a few features may have been interpreted as such.)\n\n\nBut the Lowell-inspired idea of an Earthlike Mars proved more durable. At the dawn of the space age, Mars was considered to have an atmosphere about a tenth the density of Earth's, water ice polar caps that waxed and waned with the seasons, and an annual "wave of darkening" that was often interpreted as growing plant life.\n\nIn the 1960s, observations from Earth and flyby spacecraft signalled the beginning of the end for Lowell's Mars. The Mariner 4, 6, and 7 missions returned images of a moonlike, heavily-cratered surface. The atmosphere was found to be almost pure carbon dioxide (CO2), only a hundredth the density of Earth's, and the polar caps proved to be almost entirely frozen CO2. The first global views of Mars, returned by the Mariner 9 orbiter in 1972, revealed that the planet was far more complex than the earlier flyby missions had shown, with huge volcanoes, an enormous canyon system, and evidence of running water at some point in the past. But the wave of darkening was shown to be the result of seasonal redistribution of windblown dust on the surface, the atmosphere's composition and density were confirmed, and most of the evidence for an Earthlike Mars was swept away.\n\nBut despite all these blows, the possibility of organisms on the surface could not yet be ruled out. For this reason, in 1976 the Viking landers carried a sophisticated instrument to look for possible life forms on the martian surface.\n\n\nTHE VIKING BIOLOGY EXPERIMENT.\n\nThe Viking biology experiment weighed 15.5 kg (34 lbs) and consisted of three subsystems: the Pyrolytic Release experiment (PR), the Labeled Release experiment (LR), and the Gas Exchange experiment (GEX).\n\nIn addition, independent of the biology experiments, Viking carried a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer (GCMS) that could measure the composition and abundance of organic compounds in the martian soil. (It should be noted that organic is a chemical term simply meaning "carbon-containing", and does not require the presence of life, although all life on Earth does contain carbon.)\n\n\nLABELED RELEASE.\n\nThe LR experiment moistened a 0.5-cc sample of soil with 1 cc of a nutrient consisting of distilled water and organic compounds. The organic compounds had been labeled with radioactive carbon-14. After moistening, the sample would be allowed to incubate for at least 10 days, and any microorganisms would hopefully consume the nutrient and give off gases containing the carbon-14, which would then be detected. (Terrestrial organisms would give off CO2, carbon monoxide (CO), or methane (CH4).)\n\n\nGAS EXCHANGE.\n\nThe GEX experiment partially su
282992
As of right now, no.  Earth's atmosphere is about 20-25% oxygen and about 75% nitrogen.  Mars' atmosphere is about 95% carbon dixoide, so humans cannot breathe on Mars.  It is conceivable that certain types of photosynthetic algae could survive on Mars, transforming carbon dioxide to oxygen via photosyntheis.  However, the atmosphere would still require nitrogen to be breathable.
486442
It will cost about $1 billion to get to Mars. The atmosphere is carbon dioxide. You can't breathe it. There is no weather on Mars. THe Size of MArs is about one-eighth the size of Earth.
636840
Channel Islands \nHeadline\nSunny periods. \n\nRest of today\nSunny periods. Feeling cooler with a moderate westerly wind. Maximum temperature 17 deg C (63 deg F). \n\nTonight\nTurning misty overnight with fog patches. Light westerly breeze. Minimum temperature 9 deg C (48 deg F). \n\nOutlook for Sunday\nFine with some sunshine.
361750
There's no (liquid) water on Mars, and it looks round... so I'd assume the answer would be yes.
653973
No.  I don't know about all the planets, but I know that Mars has fragmented magnetic fields, probably from it's core freezing at some point in the planet's history.  Basically, the magnetic poles come from the molten core moving around, so planets only have magnetic poles if they have molten metal cores.
13678
Try websites,like www.weather.com.
205775
Come on!  Dry Ice!\n\nTemperatures below -78 degrees Farenheit\n\nAnd your planet is Mars, but its water AND carbon dioxide in the polar caps....
814071
Scientists are interested in mars because it is the most earth-like planet in the solar system.It has mountains and valleys,polar ice caps,and dry river beds.Scientists are particularly keen to discern whether water,a key ingredient for life,exists or existed in the past on Mars.
1144139
Manchester UK\n\n\n15° \n11:20 BST\nTue \n \n\nPartly Cloudy High 17° \nLow 11° \n Humidity: 72%  \nWind: s/8 km/h \nVisibility: 9.99 km \nDewpoint: 10° \nBarometer: Unknown \nSunrise: 4:43 \nSunset 21:41 \n \n<-10 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35+ \n \n\nWed \n Thu \n Fri \n Sat \n \nFew Showers \n  \nPartly Cloudy \n  \nMostly Cloudy \n  \nCloudy \n \nHigh 21\nLow 12 High 21\nLow 12 High 23\nLow 12 High 24\nLow 15
885381
Yes!  Which is one of the reasons we study other planets - to learn more about weather here on Earth.\n\nFor a world to have seasons, its axis must be tilted relative to the plane of its orbit.  Earth's axis is tilted by 23.5 degrees.  Mars's axis is tilted almost the same amount (closer to 25 degrees) so Mars has seasons - you can see a change in the polar ice caps on Mars with the seasons.\n\nSaturn also has a tilt similar to Earths.  Of course the weather on Saturn is very different from Earth because it is so far from the Sun and it doesn't have any solid surface.  But you may have heard about a new hurricane-like storm on Saturn - it gets those storms periodically.\n\nThe tilt of Uranus is drastic - over 90 degrees!  So its seasons are quite severe - for many years the northern hemisphere will be in sunlight constantly while the southern hemisphere is in constant darkness.  Right now we're getting close to springtime on Uranus, so both hemispheres are getting about equal sunlight, and new storms are popping up.  This is exciting, since the last time this happened on Uranus we didn't have telescopes powerful enough to see them!  All of our old images of Uranus show it as a boring blue sphere, but it's not boring anymore!
1069293
Flying a balloon on Mars is not easy. The ground-level atmosphere is (I believe) 1/140 times as dense as ours, and even with 1/3 of the gravity, it may be equivalent to flying a balloon at 25,000 meters on Earth or at 80,000 feet. It can be done, but takes a big balloon. With the fierce storms of Mars, one also wonders how long such a balloon would last. \n    About the lifting power--it equals to the weight of the displaced atmosphere, minus the weight of the gas inside the balloon, required to keep it inflated. Whether that is hydrogen or helium should make little difference, because either gas weighs much less than the air (or on Mars, carbon dioxide) which is displaces. Hydrogen should be available on Mars, if only a little water can be extracted there, which seems likely. Hydrogen was of course used in all the Zeppelins in WW-I and with proper caution is quite usable. \n\n    Oxygen and nitrogen are rather heavy, cutting the lifting power by a factor of about 4: considering how marginal any balloon is on Mars, they are clearly unsuitable.. \n\n    Scientific high-altitude ballooners on Earth prefer helium because of the way its temperature changes as the balloon rises and the gas inside expands, but on Mars a balloon probably won't rise far. Rubber balloons launched to probe the weather are filled with hydrogen, which is much cheaper: they rise quickly and explode at their maximum altitude, but by then all required data have been transmitted by radio.
120021
#3: Water on the top of the mountain boils first because of lower air pressure.  Water on Mars will boil at room temperature.\n\n#2: Alpha Centari is the closest star
156649
Atmosphere\nPascal\nBar\nlbs/cm^2
61737
Weather.com is a really good site(I use it too)\n\nWeather is an all-encompassing term used to describe all of the many and varied phenomena that can occur in the atmosphere of a planet. The term is normally taken to mean the activity of these phenomena over short periods of time, usually no more than a few days in length. Average atmospheric conditions over significantly longer periods are known as climate. Usage of the two terms often overlaps and the concepts are obviously very closely related.\n\nWeather is driven by the different amounts of energy received from the Sun on different parts of the planet. Because of a planet's curvature, sunlight is incident at different angles at different latitudes (higher latitude -> lower angle of incidence -> less heating). Different types of surface (e.g. ocean, forest, ice) have different properties of reflectivity (albedo) and absorb differing amounts of energy. It is mainly due to these two factors that the surface is heated to different extents.\n\nThese surface temperature differences cause vertical wind currents as the hot surface heats the air directly above it. This hot air expands and rises lowering the air pressure and drawing colder air into its place, which is in turn heated and rises and so on. When the hot air later cools it shrinks and sinks lower, increasing air pressure and displacing the air already below it. Horizontal wind currents are formed at the boundaries between differentially heated areas and can be exacerbated by the presence of sloped surfaces. The simple systems thus formed can then display emergent behaviour to produce more complex systems and thus all other weather phenomena. A large scale example of this process can be seen in the Hadley cell and other forms of atmospheric circulation, a smaller scale example would be coastal breezes.\n\nThe only two fundamental causes of weather are thus surface temperature, and to a lesser extent, elevation.\n\nAny precession in a planet's orbit will affect the amount of energy received at a particular spot throughout the year. This effect causes seasons and may influence long term weather patterns.
960922
Mars \nThe planet that is fourth outward from the Sun. Mars has a mean heliocentric distance (semimajor axis) of 1.524 astronomical units, equivalent to 141.6 × 106 mi (227.9 × 106 km). Its orbital eccentricity of 0.093, one of the largest of the major planets, causes the distance between Mars and the Sun to vary from 128 × 106 mi (207 × 106 km) at perihelion to 155 × 106 mi (249 × 106 km) at aphelion. The mean diameter of Mars is 4212 mi (6780 km), or about 53% that of the Earth. The planet has a mass of 7.08 × 1020 tons (6.42 × 1023 kg), about 11% of Earth's. The sidereal rotation period is 24h 37m 22.7s, corresponding to a mean solar day of 24h 39m 35.2s.\n\nMars appears to the unaided eye as a bright, slightly reddish star. Having a mean (synodic) period between oppositions of 780 days, Mars is in conjunction with the Sun every other year. Viewed through a telescope, Mars usually appears as a bright reddish disk marked by complex, semipermanent dark regions and variable white polar caps.\n\nInterior\n\nAccurate measurements of the planet's gravitational field made by orbiting spacecraft have shown that Mars has a dense core and thus is differentiated into a core, mantle, and crust. The crust, composed of silicate rocks, enriched in silicon and aluminum and deficient in magnesium, is believed to be about 30 mi (50 km) thick. Over geologic time, partial melting of the crust or upper mantle has caused lower-density materials to float to the surface, creating the observed lava plains and volcanic structures.\n\nAt present Mars does not have a global magnetic field of appreciable strength. However, early in its history Mars must have had a more substantial magnetic field, because its near-surface rocks exhibit strong remanent magnetism. See also Rock magnetism.\n\nGeology\n\nThe Martian surface has been modified extensively by the processes of impact cratering, volcanism, faulting, and fluvial erosion. The terrain in the southern hemisphere is very heavily cratered and thus quite old, having formed some 3.8 × 109 years ago. Much of it stands 1–2 mi (1–4 km) higher than the planet's mean radius. By contrast, the northern hemisphere is dominated by vast, lava-covered plains with relatively few impact craters and an average elevation of about 3 mi (5 km) below the mean radius.\n\nThe Tharsis rise, or bulge, is an uplifted portion of the surface that stands several kilometers above the mean elevation of the planet. Most of Mars's tectonic features are associated with Tharsis, which affects approximately one-quarter of the entire surface.\n\nThe Martian surface exhibits several enormous shield volcanoes. The largest and perhaps the youngest is Olympus Mons, which is nearly 370 mi (600 km) across at its base and stands approximately 16 mi (26 km) above the surrounding terrain. Three other large shield volcanoes, Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Arsia Mons, lie along the nearby Tharsis rise. In shape and structure the Martian shield volcanoes bear a strong resemblance to their Hawaiian counterparts. At the summit of each shield is a complex of calderas, collapsed craterlike features that were once vents for lava.\n\nPerhaps the most spectacular features on the Martian surface are the huge canyons located primarily in the equatorial regions. Valles Marineris, actually a system of canyons, extends for over 3000 mi (5000 km) along the equatorial belt. In places, the canyon complex is as much as 300 mi (500 km) wide and drops to more than 4 mi (6 km) below the surrounding surface. Dwarfing the Earth's Grand Canyon, Valles Marineris is comparable in size to the great East African Rift Valley. In general, the walls of the canyon are precipitous, have well-defined edges, and show evidence of slumping and landslide activity (Fig. 1).\n\n\nAn image from the Mars Global Surveyor resolves features as small as 20 ft (6 m) in a 10-km-wide portion of Coprates Chasma, which is located in the middle of Mars's vast