Mars is Named After... - Universe Today Universe Today by Jerry Coffey Mars is named after the Roman god of war. Many believe that ancient peoples associated Mars with bloodshed and war because of its red color. The Romans were not the only society to associate the planet with bloodshed. The ancient Babylonians called it Nergal, after their god of fire, war, and destruction. In keeping with the planet’s association with the god Mars, its symbol is a circle with an arrow pointing outwards from its right corner. This is meant to represent Mar’s shield and spear. That information is not nearly enough to satisfy anyone’s interest in the Red Planet, so here are a few interesting facts about Mars and its environs. The largest mountain in the Solar System is on Mars. Olympus Mons is 27 km tall. It is a shield volcano that was able to erupt for million of years because Mars does not have tectonic plate movement. This allowed the same volcanic hotspot to erupt undisturbed until the giant mountain was formed. The chemical symbol for iron is the same as the astronomical symbol for Mars. This is fitting, since the planet gets its reddish appearance from the iron oxide in the dust on its surface.

A year on Mars lasts 686.98 Earth days or 1.88 Earth years. There are four seasons throughout the year like here on Earth, but each season is longer than a typical Earth season. Mars is full of water. Not liquid water like we see here on Earth, but water ice under the surface and at the bottom of craters. There is even evidence that there may be ice inside of caves on the Martian surface. These deposits are safe from the solar radiation that bombards the surface, so they are able to stay in place. Mars does not have a magnetic field at this time, but spacecraft have detected residual magnetism in rocks on the surface. That would suggest an active magnetic field millions, if not billions, of years ago. Scientist believe that the core of Mars has become too solid to rotate and is no longer capable of generating a dynamo effect. A dynamo effect is essential in producing a magnetic field. These are just a few of the interesting facts beyond who Mars is named after. Pay special attention to information generated by the Mars Express spacecraft. It has turned up a great deal of interesting data on, and under, the Martian surface.

In case you’re wondering, here’s how Jupiter got its name . Here’s some historical information on Mars, the god of war, and more on Ares , the Greek version of Mars. Finally, if you’d like to learn more about Mars in general, we have done several podcast episodes about the Red Planet at Astronomy Cast. Episode 52: Mars , and Episode 91: The Search for Water on Mars . Sources: How did the planets get their names? | Cool Cosmos How did the planets get their names? All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Greek and Roman gods and godesses. Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury were given their names thousands of years ago. The other planets were not discovered until much later, after telescopes were invented. The tradition of naming the planets after Greek and Roman gods and goddesses was carried on for the other planets discovered as well. Mercury was named after the Roman god of travel. Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty. Mars was the Roman god of War. Jupiter was the king of the Roman gods, and Saturn was the Roman god of agriculture. Uranus was named after an ancient Greek king of the gods.

Neptune was the Roman god of the Sea. Pluto, which is now classified as a dwarf planet, was the Roman god of the underworld. The name Earth is an English/German name which simply means the ground. Continue the conversation on How the Planets Got Their Names - Ancient Roman Gods for Kids FAQ, About Us All of the planets, except for Earth, were named after Roman gods and goddesses. Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury were given their names thousands of years ago. Those were the planets that the ancient Romans could see in the sky without a telescope. The other planets in our solar system were not discovered until much later, when telescopes were invented. Even then, the tradition of naming the planets after Roman gods and goddesses continued. Most of the moons and some asteroids are also named after the critters and creatures and gods and goddesses found in Roman mythology. Some of the constellations in our solar system are named after Roman gods as well.

OUR PLANETS MERCURY Roman Winged Messenger, winged god of travel because he moves so fast VENUS Roman Goddess of Love, beautiful EARTH MARS Roman God of War JUPITER Chief Roman God (Jupiter is King of the Gods, an elected position) SATURN Former Roman God of Agriculture, retired. Replaced by his daughter, Ceres URANUS Former Roman God of the Sky, retired. Replaced by his grandson, Jupiter. NEPTUNE Roman Lord of the Sea PLUTO Roman Lord of the Underworld (Pluto is no longer considered a planet.) Remembering the 8 planets: Mars Facts: Life, Water and Robots on the Red Planet Mars Facts: Life, Water and Robots on the Red Planet By Charles Q. Choi, Space.com Contributor | November 4, 2014 09:00pm ET MORE NASA's Hubble Space Telescope snapped this shot of Mars on Aug. 26, 2003, when the Red Planet was 34.7 million miles from Earth. The picture was taken just 11 hours before Mars made its closest approach to us in 60,000 years.

Credit: NASA/ESA Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Befitting the red planet's bloody color, the Romans named it after their god of war. The Romans copied the ancient Greeks, who also named the planet after their god of war, Ares. Other civilizations also typically gave the planet names based on its color — for example, the Egyptians named it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one," while ancient Chinese astronomers dubbed it "the fire star." Physical characteristics Regolith The bright rust color Mars is known for is due to iron-rich minerals in its regolith — the loose dust and rock covering its surface. The soil of Earth is a kind of regolith, albeit one loaded with organic content. According to NASA, the iron minerals oxidize, or rust, causing the soil to look red. Geology The cold, thin atmosphere means liquid water currently cannot exist on the Martian surface for any length of time. This means that although this desert planet is just half the diameter of Earth, it has the same amount of dry land. The red planet is home to both the highest mountain and the deepest, longest valley in the solar system.

Olympus Mons is roughly 17 miles (27 kilometers) high, about three times as tall as Mount Everest, while the Valles Marineris system of valleys — named after the Mariner 9 probe that discovered it in 1971 — can go as deep as 6 miles (10 km) and runs east-west for roughly 2,500 miles (4,000 km), about one-fifth of the distance around Mars and close to the width of Australia or the distance from Philadelphia to San Diego. Space.com Exclusive T-shirt. Available to Populate Mars. Buy Now Credit: Space.com Store Mars has the largest volcanoes in the solar system, including Olympus Mons, which is about 370 miles (600 km) in diameter, wide enough to cover the entire state of New Mexico. It is a shield volcano, with slopes that rise gradually like those of Hawaiian volcanoes, and was created by eruptions of lavas that flowed for long distances before solidifying. Mars also has many other kinds of volcanic landforms, from small, steep-sided cones to enormous plains coated in hardened lava. Some minor eruptions might still occur on the planet.

Scientists think the Valles Marineris formed mostly by rifting of the crust as it got stretched. Individual canyons within the system are as much as 60 miles (100 km) wide. They merge in the central part of the Valles Marineris in a region as much as 370 miles (600 km) wide. Large channels emerging from the ends of some canyons and layered sediments within suggest the canyons might once have been filled with liquid water. Channels, valleys, and gullies are found all over Mars, and suggest that liquid water might have flowed across the planet's surface in recent times. Some channels can be 60 miles (100 km) wide and 1,200 miles (2,000 km) long. Water may still lie in cracks and pores in underground rock . Many regions of Mars are flat, low-lying plains. The lowest of the northern plains are among the flattest, smoothest places in the solar system, potentially created by water that once flowed across the Martian surface. The northern hemisphere mostly lies at a lower elevation than the southern hemisphere, suggesting the crust may be thinner in the north than in the south.

This difference between the north and south might be due to a very large impact shortly after the birth of Mars. The number of craters on Mars varies dramatically from place to place, depending on how old the surface is. Much of the surface of the southern hemisphere is extremely old, and so has many craters — including the planet's largest, 1,400-mile-wide (2,300 km) Hellas Planitia — while that of northern hemisphere is younger and so has fewer craters. Some volcanoes have few craters, which suggests they erupted recently, with the resulting lava covering up any old craters. Some craters have unusual-looking deposits of debris around them resembling solidified mudflows, potentially indicating that impactor hit underground water or ice. Polar caps Vast deposits of what appear to be finely layered stacks of water ice and dust extend from the poles to latitudes of about 80 degrees in both hemispheres. These were probably deposited by the atmosphere over long spans of time. On top of much of these layered deposits in both hemispheres are caps of water ice that remain frozen all year round. Additional seasonal caps of frost appear in the wintertime.

These are made of solid carbon dioxide, also known as "dry ice," which has condensed from carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere, and in the deepest part of the winter, this frost can extend from the poles to latitudes as low as 45 degrees, or halfway to the equator. The dry ice layer appears to have a fluffy texture, like freshly fallen snow, according to the report in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Planets. Mars 12 inch Globe Buy Here Credit: Space.com Store Climate Mars is much colder than Earth, in large part due to its greater distance from the sun. The average temperature is about minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 60 degrees Celsius), although they can vary from minus 195 F (minus 125 C) near the poles during the winter to as much as 70 F (20 C) at midday near the equator. The carbon-dioxide-rich atmosphere of Mars is also roughly 100 times less dense than Earth's on average, but it is nevertheless thick enough to support weather, clouds and winds. The density of the atmosphere varies seasonally, as winter forces carbon dioxide to freeze out of the Martian air.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found the first definitive detections of carbon-dioxide snow clouds , making Mars the only body in the solar system known to host the unusual winter weather. The red planet also causes water-ice snow to fall from the clouds. The dust storms of the Mars are the largest in the solar system, capable of blanketing the entire red planet and lasting for months. One theory as to why dust storms can grow so big on Mars starts with airborne dust particles absorbing sunlight, warming the Martian atmosphere in their vicinity. Warm pockets of air flow toward colder regions, generating winds. Strong winds lift more dust off the ground, which in turn heats the atmosphere, raising more wind and kicking up more dust. Orbital characteristics The axis of Mars, like Earth's, is tilted with relation to the sun. This means that like Earth, the amount of sunlight falling on certain parts of the planet can vary widely during the year, giving Mars seasons. However, the seasons that Mars experiences are more extreme than Earth's because the red planet's elliptical, oval-shaped orbit around the sun is more elongated than that of any of the other major planets.

When Mars is closest to the sun, its southern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, giving it a short, very hot summer, while the northern hemisphere experiences a short, cold winter. When Mars is farthest from the sun, the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, giving it a long, mild summer, while the southern hemisphere experiences a long, cold winter. Composition & structure Atmospheric composition (by volume): 95.32 percent carbon dioxide, 2.7 percent nitrogen, 1.6 percent argon, 0.13 percent oxygen, 0.08 percent carbon monoxide, minor amounts of water, nitrogen oxide, neon, hydrogen-deuterium-oxygen, krypton, xenon Magnetic field: Mars currently has no global magnetic field, but there are regions of its crust that can be at least 10 times more strongly magnetized than anything measured on Earth, remnants of an ancient global magnetic field. Chemical composition: Mars likely has a solid core composed of iron, nickel, and sulfur. The mantle of Mars is probably similar to Earth's in that it is composed mostly of peridotite, which is made up primarily of silicon, oxygen, iron and magnesium.

The crust is probably largely made of the volcanic rock basalt, which is also common in the crusts of the Earth and the moon, although some crustal rocks, especially in the northern hemisphere, may be a form of andesite, a volcanic rock that contains more silica than basalt does. Internal structure: Scientists think that on average, the Martian core is about 1,800 and 2,400 miles in diameter (3,000 and 4,000 km), its mantle is about 900 to 1,200 miles (5,400 to 7,200 km) wide and its crust is about 30 miles (50 km) thick. Orbit & rotation Average distance from the sun : 141,633,260 miles (227,936,640 km). By comparison: 1.524 times that of Earth Perihelion (closest): 128,400,000 miles (206,600,000 km).

By comparison: 1.404 times that of Earth Aphelion (farthest): 154,900,000 miles (249,200,000 km). By comparison: 1.638 times that of Earth The moons of Mars The two moons of Mars , Phobos and Deimos, were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall over the course of a week in 1877. Hall had almost given up his search for a moon of Mars, but his wife, Angelina, urged him on — he discovered Deimos the next night, and Phobos six days after that. He named the moons after the sons of the Greek war god Ares — Phobos means "fear," while Deimos means "rout." Both Phobos and Deimos are apparently made of carbon-rich rock mixed with ice and are covered in dust and loose rocks. They are tiny next to Earth's moon, and are irregularly shaped, since they lack enough gravity to pull themselves into a more circular form.

The widest Phobos gets is about 17 miles (27 km), and the widest Deimos gets is roughly nine miles (15 km). Both moons are pockmarked with craters from meteor impacts. The surface of Phobos also possesses an intricate pattern of grooves, which may be cracks that formed after the impact created the moon's largest crater — a hole about 6 miles (10 km) wide, or nearly half the width of Phobos. They always show the same face to Mars, just as our moon does to Earth. It remains uncertain how Phobos and Deimos were born. They may have been asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull, or they may have been formed in orbit around Mars the same time the planet came into existence. Ultraviolet light reflected from Phobos provides strong evidence for its capture origin, according to astronomers at the University of Padova in Italy. Phobos is gradually spiraling toward Mars, drawing about 6 feet (1.8 meters) closer to the red planet each century. Within 50 million years, Phobos will either smash into Mars or break up and form a ring of debris around the planet. Both moons are potential targets for exploration.

One NASA plan envisions bombarding Phobos with small, spiky spherical rovers called hedgehogs. The planet Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and named after the Roman God of War and is also called the Red Planet. See what makes Mars tick with this Space.com infographic looking inside the Red Planet . Credit: Karl Tate, SPACE.com Research & exploration The first person to watch Mars with a telescope was Galileo Galilei , and in the century after him, astronomers discovered its polar ice caps. In the 19th and 20th centuries, researchers believed they saw a network of long, straight canals on Mars, hinting at civilization, although later these often proved to be mistaken interpretations of dark regions they saw. Robot spacecraft began observing Mars in the 1960s, with the United States launching Mariner 4 there in 1964 and Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969. They revealed Mars to be a barren world, without any signs of the life or civilizations people had imagined there. In 1971, Mariner 9 orbited Mars, mapping about 80 percent of the planet and discovering its volcanoes and canyons.

NASA's Viking 1 lander touched down onto the surface of Mars in 1976, the first successful landing onto the Red Planet. It took the first close-up pictures of the Martian surface but found no strong evidence for life . The next two craft to successfully reach Mars were the Mars Pathfinder, a lander, and Mars Global Surveyor , an orbiter, both launched in 1996. A small robot onboard Pathfinder named Sojourner — the first wheeled rover to explore the surface of another planet — ventured over the planet's surface analyzing rocks. In 2001, the United States launched the Mars Odyssey probe, which discovered vast amount of water ice beneath the Martian surface, mostly in the upper three feet (one meter). It remains uncertain whether more water lies underneath, since the probe cannot see water any deeper. In 2003, the closest Mars had passed to Earth in nearly 60,000 years, NASA launched two rovers, nicknamed Spirit and Opportunity , which explored different regions of the Martian surface, and both found signs that water once flowed on the planet's surface.

In 2008, NASA sent another mission, Phoenix, to land in the northern plains of Mars and search for water, Two orbiters — NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and ESA's Mars Express — are keeping Mars Odyssey company over the planet. In 2011, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission, with its rover named Mars Curiosity , began to investigate Martian rocks to determine the geologic processes that created them and find out more about the present and past habitability of Mars. Among its findings is the first meteorite on the surface of the red planet. In September 2014, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission reached the red planet, making it the fourth nation to successfully enter orbit around Mars. Robots aren’t the only ones looking to buy a ticket to Mars. A workshop group of government, academic, and industry scientists have found that a NASA-led manned mission to Mars should be possible by the 2030s. But NASA isn’t the only one with Martian astronaut hopefuls.. The Mars One colony project is looking to send private citizens on a one-way trip to the red planet. Possibility of life Mars could have once harbored life. Some conjecture that life might still exist there even today.

A number of researchers have even speculated that life on Earth may have seeded Mars, or that life on Mars seeded Earth. The most public scientific claim for life on Mars came in 1996. Geologist David McKay at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and his colleagues focused on rocks blasted off the surface of Mars by cosmic impacts that landed on Earth. Within they found complex organic molecules, grains of a mineral called magnetite that can form within some kinds of bacteria, and tiny structures that resembled fossilized microbes. However, these claims have proven controversial, and there is no consensus as to whether they are signs of life. Mars may have possessed oceans on its surface in the past, providing an environment for life to develop. Although the red planet is a cold desert today, researchers suggest that liquid water may be present underground, providing a potential refuge for any life that might still exist there. The rover Curiosity has found evidence for a lake that could have once supported life on the red planet, after previously establishing that the planet had the key ingredients present for life to evolve. Enthusiasm and excitement on Earth over the possibility of life on the red planet are revealed by the flurry of excitement that greets interesting objects spotted by orbiters and landers.

While the Face on Mars garnered attention for the past four decades after it was first spotted by Viking 1, rovers today show close-ups of objects — such as a weathered Martian rock claimed to be a ‘thigh bone’ and a likely shiny rock that raised furor on the internet as a UFO light . Additional resources Read about and see pictures of more than 40 missions to Mars . Follow the rover Curiosity as it makes its way across the Martian terrain. Learn more about Mars at NASA's Solar System Exploration website. Related: BBC Solar System – Mars: Is there life on the Red Planet? Listen now 45 min Melvyn Bragg discusses the planet Mars, a source of endless fascination in human history Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the planet Mars. Named after the Roman god of war, Mars has been a source of continual fascination. About Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Named after the Roman god of war, it is often referred to as the "Red Planet" because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance.

Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth. The rotational period and seasonal cycles of Mars are likewise similar to those of Earth, as is the tilt that produces the seasons. Mars is the site of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and second-highest known mountain in the Solar System, and of Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System. The smooth Borealis basin in the northern hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and irregularly shaped. These may be captured asteroids, similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan. There are ongoing investigations assessing the past habitability potential of Mars, as well as the possibility of extant life. Future astrobiology missions are planned, including the Mars 2020 and ExoMars rovers.

Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure, which is about 6⁄1000 that of the Earth's, except at the lowest elevations for short periods. The two polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water. The volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters (36 ft). On November 22, 2016, NASA reported finding a large amount of underground ice in the Utopia Planitia region of Mars. The volume of water detected has been estimated to be equivalent to the volume of water in Lake Superior. (image) Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish coloring. Its apparent magnitude reaches −2.91, which is surpassed only by Jupiter, Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometers (190 mi) across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth's atmosphere.

Mythology of the Planets - Universe Today Universe Today by Abby Cessna [/caption] Thousands of years ago, ancient civilizations turned to the heavens, marveling at their wonders. These ancient people worshipped various gods and often linked their gods with planets in the sky, which they considered to be “wandering stars.” Mercury gets its name from the winged messenger of the gods. He was also the god of thievery, commerce, and travel. Most likely, the planet got its name from the rate at which it spins. Venus was the Roman goddess of love and beauty, so it is a fitting name for this brightly shining planet. The only objects in our Solar System brighter than Venus are the Sun and the Moon. Ancient civilizations thought that Venus was two different objects – the Morning Star and the Evening Star. Other civilizations have also associated the planet with love. The Babylonians called the planet Ishtar after their goddess of womanhood and love. Earth is the only planet not named after a Roman god or goddess, but it is associated with the goddess Terra Mater (Gaea to the Greeks). In mythology, she was the first goddess on Earth and the mother of Uranus. The name Earth comes from Old English and Germanic.

It is derived from “eor(th)e” and “ertha,” which mean “ground.” Other civilizations all over the world also developed terms for our planet. Mars is named after the Roman god of war. The planet got its name from the fact that it is the color of blood. Other civilizations also named the planets for its red color. Jupiter was the Roman king of the gods. Considering that Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System, it makes sense that the planet was named after the most important god. Saturn was named after the Roman god of agriculture and harvest. While the planet may have gotten its name from its golden color, like a field of wheat, it also had to do with its position in the sky. According to mythology, the god Saturn stole the position of king of the gods from his father Uranus. The throne was then stolen by Jupiter. Uranus was not discovered until the 1800’s, but the astronomers in that time period continued the tradition of naming planets after Roman gods. In mythology, Uranus was the father of Saturn and was at one time the king of the gods.

While Neptune almost ended up being named after one of the astronomers credited with discovering it – Verrier – that was greatly disputed, so it was named after the god of the sea. The name was probably inspired by its blue color. Pluto is no longer a planet, but it used to be. The dark, cold, former planet was named after the god of the underworld. The first two letters of Pluto are also the initials of the man who predicted its existence, Percival Lowell. Universe Today has articles on names of the planets and all the planets . For more information on the planets check out all about the planets and mythology of the planets. Astronomy Cast has episodes on all the planets including Saturn . Mars (Ares), Fourth Planet from the Sun | Wyzant Resources Source Like a badge of blood in the sky, the Red Planet has long stood for the gods of war. Mars' symbol is seen below. It seems natural that the Greeks named the fourth planet after Ares, since it shines with a red color, resembling blood, which is appropriate for the god of War. The Romans identified their god of War, Mars, with the Greek Ares; now we know the planet as Mars.

Mars was the Roman war god; his shield and spear form the planets symbol. He was also a god of agriculture before becoming associated with Ares. Whereas Ares often received a bad name because "war" implied explicit violence, Mars represented securing peace of a nation through war. Therefore, he was more highly revered amongst the Romans than Ares was amongst the Greeks. In the poems of Homer, there are such epithets as these applied to Ares: scourge of mortals, piercer of shields, the bloodstained one. The Romans were well-known as a warlike people; therefore, it is not strange that Mars became their patron god. They built temples for him and honored him by many celebrations during the year. One of the most famous parts of the city of Rome was called the Field of Mars (Campus Martius), and it was here that the army was reviewed and the spoils of war dedicated after the return of the armies from some successful campaign. The word martial, pertaining to war, came from Mars, the god of War. He was one of the most important of the Roman gods and an entire month of the year was dedicated to him.

We still call the third month of the year, March, in his honor.The month was so named because Mars, the patron god of the Romans, was a war-god, and spring campaigns usually began about that time. The Roman year once began with March before it became January. Scientific facts about Mars: It wasnt until 1877 that the planet Mars was found to have any satellites; but, in that year, the American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered two of them. They were very small, being only five or ten miles in diameter, but they were satellites. Hall named them Phobos and Deimos so that in the heavens, as in the myths and in reality, war is accompanied by fear and terror. Mars characteristic color is primarily due to the high content of oxidized iron in its surface layers. The surface is covered with fine dust that is often whipped up into dust storms by winds blowing at up to 200 mph (325 km/h). Water must have flowed on Mars at some time.

The evidence comes from photos of the Valles Marineris taken by the Viking 1 orbiter (launched in 1975 and reaching Mars on July 20, 1976). The Valles Marineris is a system of canyons and cracks of geological origin in the surface of the planet. Some of them show signs of water erosion, with clearly marked tributaries and winding, dried-up riverbeds. No one is certain when the water was there, but it is assumed to have been many millions of years ago. Sign up for free to access more Greek gods resources like . Wyzant Resources features blogs, videos, lessons, and more about Greek gods and over 250 other subjects. Stop struggling and start learning today with thousands of free resources! How the Planets and Satellites Got Their Names How the Planets and Satellites Got Their Names Source: The U.S. Geological Survey MERCURY Named for the winged Roman god of travel because it appears to move so swiftly. VENUS Roman name for the goddess of love. This planet was considered to be the brightest and most beautiful planet or star in the heavens.

EARTH The name Earth comes from the Indo-European base 'er,' which produced the Germanic noun 'ertho,' and ultimately German 'erde,' Dutch 'aarde,' Danish and Swedish 'jord,' and English 'earth.' Related forms include Greek 'eraze,' meaning 'on the ground,' and Welsh 'erw,' meaning 'field.' THE MOON: Every civilization has had a name for the satellite of Earth that is known, in English, as the Moon. The name is of Anglo-Saxon derivation. MARS Named by the Romans for their god of war because of its red, bloodlike color. Other civilizations also named this planet from this attribute; for example, the Egyptians named it “Her Desher,” meaning “the red one.” SATELLITES: Phobos (named for one of the horses that drew Mars' chariot); Deimos (named for one of Mars' companions). JUPITER The largest and most massive of the planets was named Zeus by the Greeks and Jupiter by the Romans; he was the most important deity in both pantheons. Jupiter's satellites are named after mythological characters who have some relationship to Zeus.

SATELLITES: Metis (first wife of Zeus); Adrastea (a nymph of Crete to whose care Zeus's mother entrusted the infant Zeus); Amalthea (a goat in some accounts, a princess of Crete in others, she suckled Zeus as a young child); Thebe (a nymph abducted by Zeus); Io (she was changed by Zeus into a cow to protect her from his jealous wife); Europa (she was seduced by Jupiter); Ganymede (beautiful young boy who became the cupbearer of the Olympian gods); Callisto (she was seduced by Zeus, who changed her into a bear to protect her from his wife's jealousy); Leda (seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan); Himalia (nymph who bore three sons of Zeus); Lysithia (one of Zeus' many lovers); Elara (a paramour of Zeus); Ananke (daughter of Zeus and Adrastea, goddess of fate and necessity); Carme (mother, by Zeus, of Britomartis); Pasiphaë (wife of Minos, mother of the Minotaur); Sinope (daughter of the river god Asopus and Merope).

Other recently discovered and named satellites of Jupiter are: Themisto, Euporie, Orthosie, Euanthe, Thyone, Harpalyke, Hermippe, Praxidike, Iocaste, Passithee, Chaldene, Kale, Isonoe, Aitne, Erinome, Taygete, Kalyke, Eurydome, Autonoe, Sponde, Megaclite, and Callirrhoe. There are still 24 more Jovian satellites to be named. SATURN Saturn was the Roman name for the Greek Cronos, god of farming and the father of Zeus/Jupiter. Some of its satellites were named for Titans who, according to Greek mythology, were brothers and sisters of Saturn. The newest satellites were named for Gallic (Gaul, or ancient France), Norse, and Inuit (Eskimo) giants.

SATELLITES: Pan (the half-human, half-goat god of pastoralism); Atlas (a Titan who held the heavens on his shoulders); Prometheus (a Titan who gave many gifts to humanity, including fire); Pandora (a woman who opened the box that loosed a host of plagues upon humanity); Janus (a two-faced Roman god who could look forward and backward at the same time); Epimetheus (a Greek backward-looking god); Mimas (a Titan felled by Hephaestus); Enceladus (a Titan killed by Athene); Tethys (the wife of Oceanus and mother of all rivers); Telesto (a water nymph); Calypso (a daughter of Atlas and paramour of Odysseus); Dione (a sister of Cronos); Helene (a daughter of Zeus); Rhea (a daughter of Cronos); Titan; Hyperion (a Titan); Iapetus (a Titan); Phoebe (another name for Artemis, goddess of the moon).

Satellites discovered in 2000 are: Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Paaliaq, Skadi, Albiorix, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Tarvos, Mundilfari, Suttung, Thrym, and Ymir. One more satellite, discovered in 2003, is yet to be named. URANUS Uranus was named for the Greek god of the sky. The astronmer William Lassell, who discovered two of Uranus' satellites in 1851, started the tradition of naming all of the planet's satellites for characters in the work of William Shakepseare and Alexander Pope.

SATELLITES: Cordelia (daughter of Lear in Shakespeare's “King Lear”); Ophelia (daughter of Polonius, fiance of Hamlet in Shakespeare's “Hamlet”); Bianca (daughter of Baptista, sister of Kate in Shakespeare's “Taming of the Shrew”); Cressida (title character in Shakespeare's “Troilus and Cressida”); Desdemona (wife of Othello in Shakespeare's “Othello”); Juliet (heroine of Shakespeare's “Romeo and Juliet”); Portia (rich heiress in Shakespeare's “Merchant of Venice”); Rosalind (daughter of the banished duke in Shakespeare's “As You Like It”); Belinda (character in Pope's “Rape of the Lock”); Puck (mischievous spirit in Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Miranda (the heroine of Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Ariel (a benevolent spirit in Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Umbriel (a malevolent spirit in Pope's“ Rape of the Lock”); Titania (the queen of the fairies in Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Oberon (the king

 of the fairies in “A Midsummer Night's Dream”); Caliban (the brutish slave in Shakespeare's “The Tempest”); Sycorax (Caliban's mother in “The Tempest”); Prospero (the rightful Duke of Milan in “The Tempest”); Setebos (a false god worshiped by Caliban in “The Tempest”); Stephano (a drunken butler in “The Tempest”); Trinculo (a jester in “The Tempest”).

NEPTUNE Neptune, a blue planet, was named for the Roman god of the sea. SATELLITES: Naiad (a group of Greek water nymphs who were guardians of lakes, fountains, springs and rivers); Thalassa (Greek sea goddess); Despina (daughter of Neptune); Galatea (one of the attendants of Neptune); Larissa (a lover of Neptune); Proteus (a Greek sea god); Triton (the sea-god son of Poseidon/Neptune); Nereid (the Nereids, a group of fifty daughters, were attendants of Neptune). Five other recently discovered satellites are still unnamed. PLUTO News Flash (August 24, 2006)— Pluto Demoted! Read About It Here . Pluto, the outermost planet in our solar system, was named after Roman god of the underworld, who was able to render himself invisible. SATELLITE: Charon (the mythological boatman who ferried souls across the river Styx to Pluto for judgement).

Question: Which planet is named after the Roman god of war?
Answer: Mars