Congratulations – you’ve found:
Mars
Mars is known as the “Red Planet” because it looks like a bright reddish star in the night sky. It’s the fourth planet from the Sun and it’s a bit like a neighbour to Earth in space. Mars is a very interesting planet because scientists think it might have once had liquid water, which means it could have had life long, long ago!
Fun Facts:
- Red and Rusty: Mars gets its reddish colour from iron in the soil. It’s like a rusty planet! The surface is covered in red dust and rocks.
- Cold and Dusty: Mars is really, really cold, much colder than Earth. It’s also super dusty, which makes it look even redder.
- Mountains and Canyons: Mars has some of the biggest mountains and deepest canyons in the whole solar system. One canyon, called Valles Marineris, is about 10 times longer and 7 times deeper than Earth’s Grand Canyon!
- Olympus Mons: This is the tallest volcano in the whole solar system, and it’s on Mars! It’s about three times taller than Mount Everest, which is the tallest mountain on Earth.
- Two Small Moons: Mars has two tiny moons named Phobos and Deimos. They’re much smaller than our Moon and they orbit close to Mars.
- Named After a Roman God: Mars is named after the ancient Roman god of war. He was a powerful god, and the Romans thought the red colour of the planet was like the colour of blood.
- Mission to Mars: Scientists and astronauts are very curious about Mars! They’ve sent robots and spacecraft to explore and learn more about this fascinating planet. Someday, people might even go to Mars!
- Day and Night Like Earth: Mars has days and nights, just like Earth. But a day on Mars is a little bit longer than a day on Earth, lasting about 24.6 hours.
- Possible Life in the Past: Scientists think that a long, long time ago, Mars might have had rivers, lakes, and even oceans! If that’s true, it means Mars could have had the right conditions for life.
- Mars in Movies and Books: Mars has been featured in lots of movies, books, and even songs. People love to imagine what it might be like to visit or live on Mars!
Mars is a cool planet, and who knows, maybe one day in the future, humans will get to explore it up close!
Can you explore Dundee and find all 8 planets in our Solar System?
The distance between each planet represents the scale of the planets in our Solar System – and their distance from the Sun!
Remember to take a picture of any Solar System Trail sign and tag us to be entered into our weekly draw for Dundee Science Centre tickets!
You can find us on Facebook or Instagram – @dundeesciencecentre. You can also use the hashtag #dundeesciencecentregiveaway
If you need a hint please see a map of the locations below, or you can download a high-resolution printable trail HERE.
How many will you find?
