Mars is often called the “Red Planet.” Its orbit of the Sun is an ellipse, so its path around the Sun is much more than what occurs during seasons, climate, and exploration potential. When compared to other planets that make up our solar system, all other planets had been governed by the law of planetary motion, but in Mars, there is a really interesting candidate for study.
Orbital Shape and Distance
Orbits around Mars are highly elliptical compared to Earth, which makes it change considerably in distance from the Sun while orbiting. The other characteristics that make Mars a different planet from others include the eccentricity or extent the orbit deviates from a perfect circle that a planet has. It is 142 million miles or 228 million kilometers away from the Sun hence leads it to be about 1.5 times farther than Earth from the Sun.
Mars is about 206 million kilometers (128 million miles) from the Sun at its closest point, called perihelion, whereas at the farthest end of its orbit-a distance known as aphelion-it sits at 249 million kilometers (155 million miles). This means maximum fluctuations of solar energy and associated temperature and atmospheric variations on Mars.
Martian Year and Seasons
Now, one Martian year lasts about 687 Earth days, so one year on Mars is about twice as long as one year on Earth. For instance, like Earth, the planet of Mars experiences axial tilt and thus undergoes seasons, but the southern part of the planet faces far more extreme seasonal conditions than the northern part due to its being more eccentric than Earth.
That is, while the former is at its perihelion, the southern hemisphere has a brief summer compared to that of the northern part. While at aphelion, the southern hemisphere feels a cold winter for that long. This complexity of different lengths and intensities of seasons in Mars adds layers of complexity to understanding its climate and the preparation of potential human exploration.
Orbital Impact on Exploration
The elliptical orbit of Mars is an important feature of Mars space missions, especially about the time to launch such a mission. Because of the different distances at which Mars and Earth orbit the Sun it is only possible in certain windows of opportunity, known as Hohmann transfer orbits, every some 26 months to send a spacecraft from Earth to Mars with least energy, that is to say with minimum traveling time and fuel requirements. Knowing the orbit of Mars is important not only for current scientific exploration but also to guide future human missions to or around the planet because it influences climate, atmospheric behavior, and even space travel timing between Earth and Mars.