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Sounds and colours on Mars

Waves, sound and light · level 1, lesson 6 of 6

A question to start

The Perseverance rover carries microphones, so we have heard the wind on Mars. Another rover took a photo of a Mars sunset. What do sounds and sunsets on Mars have that ours do not?

The idea

Sounds on Mars are quieter. The air on Mars is very thin, so it carries sound weakly. Scientists worked out that the same sound would be much quieter on Mars than on Earth. Sound also travels more slowly there.

The sky on Mars is a different colour. Fine dust floats in Mars's air. In the daytime, the dust spreads yellow and red light all over the sky, so the sky looks a dusty orange. At sunset, the sky near the Sun glows blue, the opposite of Earth's orange sunsets.

Earth sunsetMars sunset
Sound and light Mars Earth
How loud the same sound is much quieter louder
Colour of the daytime sky dusty orange blue
Colour of the sky around the setting Sun blue orange and red

Worked examples

1. The first colour sunset seen by the Curiosity rover was on 15 April 2015. The sky around the Sun glowed blue.

2. Listening on Mars. Perseverance's microphones heard the wind, the rover's own laser tapping rocks, and the hum of the Ingenuity helicopter flying nearby.

3. A smaller Sun. Mars is further from the Sun than Earth, so the Sun looks smaller in its sky.

Try it

  1. Are sounds louder or quieter on Mars?
  2. What colour is the sky near the setting Sun on Mars?
  3. What colour is the daytime sky on Mars?
  4. What floats in Mars's air and changes the sky's colour?
Answers
  1. Quieter.
  2. Blue.
  3. A dusty orange.
  4. Fine dust.

Common mistake

"There is no sound on Mars." Mars has air, so it has sound. It is just much quieter than on Earth.

Where it leads