Is it April on mars?

Question

Supposedly, Mars revolves around the sun faster than earth does and it is April, on mars right now. Is It?

Answer 1

How can we really attribute earth seasons to a planet devoid of life as we know it? It's not like we can judge the season by the flowers blooming on mars.

Answer 2

Martian days are 39 minutes longer than Earth days. The Martian year is twice as long as Earth's. Mars has two tiny moons. One orbits 3 times a day, the other every 1 1/4 days, so the concept of a month is meaningless there. Mars' axial inclination is about 25 degrees, similar to Earth's, so it has seasons, but remember, the seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, just like here. So who's going to determine what "month" it is on Mars?

Answer 3

I agree with Dan J. The name "April" has no meaning on Mars. It is just a month name in the Gregorian calendar, which has nothing to do with Mars. That and the seasons on Mars are totally different than on Earth. The more highly elliptical orbit of Mars dominates it's seasons in a way that does not happen on Earth. Also, Mars has a longer day and much longer year than Earth. However, I think Mars is now entering its northern hemisphere spring, which could be considered kind of like April I guess.

Answer 4

I doubt it:

Of all the planets, Mars' seasons are the most Earth-like due to the similar tilts of the two planets' rotational axes. However, the lengths of the Martian seasons are about twice those of Earth's, as Mars' greater distance from the sun leads to the Martian year being approximately two Earth years in length. Martian surface temperatures vary from lows of approximately –140 °C (−220 °F) during the polar winters to highs of up to 20 °C (70 °F) in summers. The wide range in temperatures is due to the thin atmosphere which cannot store much solar heat.[citation needed] Recent evidence has suggested that Mars is subject to short term regional climate changes.

If Mars had an Earthlike orbit, its seasons would be similar to Earth's because its axial tilt is similar to Earth's. However, the comparatively large eccentricity of the Martian orbit has a significant effect. Mars is near perihelion when it is summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the north, and near aphelion when it is winter in the southern hemisphere and summer in the north. As a result, the seasons in the southern hemisphere are more extreme and the seasons in the northern are milder than would otherwise be the case.

Answer 5

OK according to NASA Aug. 8 was the latest mars winter solstice, a mars year is 687 days long, about 2x a earth year, so the 6 months since aug here on earth is 1/4th of a Martian year so it is more like march on mars now than April.

Answer 6

The only way it can be April on Mars is if somebody made a calendar system based on Mars' rotation and named some part of it April.

Answer 7

Months are based on the 12 periods of the Earth revolving around the sun. They have no meaning on other planets. I would assume if we ever colonized another planet we would somehow refer to Earth dates.

Answer 8

I think the seasons of mars have not been defined. If you wanted to and it has not been done, you could probably create a system defining the seasons of mars however you like.

Answer 9

no, the difference in time between the sun and mars orbit is a bit less than an hour

Answer 10

Mars moon revolves differently times to our moon so you cannot compare Earth's lunar months to Martian months.


Go to NASA http://www.giss.nasa.gov/tools/mars24/ and get the tool for mars time