Why is Mars red?
Mars is red because its dusty ground is rusty.
Pip’s answer
- Mars is red because its dusty ground is rusty.
- Rust is the same orange-red that old metal gets.
- Wind blows the red dust all around Mars, even into the sky. Whoosh!
- Hehe, that's why people call Mars the Red Planet!
For grown-ups
Mars's surface is covered in dust rich in iron oxide, essentially rust. Fine red dust also gets blown into the thin atmosphere, giving the sky a butterscotch tint. That's why Mars looks reddish even from Earth, where you can sometimes spot it as a reddish dot.
Ask your child: What would you want to explore first on Mars?
More questions kids ask
- 🪐Why does Saturn have rings?
- 🪐Why is Jupiter so big?
- 🪐Why do planets go around the sun?
- 🌙Why does it get dark at night?
- ⭐Why do stars twinkle?
- 🌓Why does the moon change shape?
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