Description
Mars, fourth planet from the Sun, is a cold desert planet with a thin,
dry carbon-dioxide atmosphere. The geology of Mars, however, shows
signs of an active past, with hot-spot volcanism, and tantalizing signs
of ancient water flows. While a cold, dead desert planet today, Mars'
past may have been warmer and wetter, with liquid water during the first
third of its history. This lecture will review the properties of Mars,
and discuss the evidences of its active past. Recorded 2006 Nov 13 in
100 Stillman Hall on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State University.
A new podcast, Astronomy 141, Life in the Universe, is available
for those interested in continuing an exploration of topics in
modern astronomy.
Published 12/06/09
Are there planets around other stars? Are there Earth-like planets
around other stars? Do any of those harbor life? Intelligent life?
We'd like to know the answers to all of these questions, and in recent
years we've made great progress towards at least answering the first.
To date, more...
Published 12/01/06