Timekeeping on Mars

<p>Though no standard exists, numerous calendars and other <a href="/facts/Timekeeping/6ApueJCc">timekeeping</a> approaches have been proposed for the <a href="/facts/Planet/rbPjE6Bx">planet</a> <a href="/facts/Mars/AQGtVvz0">Mars</a>. The most commonly seen in the scientific literature denotes the time of year as the <a href="/facts/Ecliptic_coordinate_system/28zkWwVa">number of degrees on its orbit</a> from the <a href="/facts/March_equinox/27hlaADj">northward equinox</a>, and increasingly there is use of numbering the Martian years beginning at the equinox that occurred <a href="/facts/April_1955/gdWgzcIK">April 11, 1955</a>.
</p><p>Mars has an <a href="/facts/Axial_tilt/kt7KwL3v">axial tilt</a> and a rotation period similar to those of <a href="/facts/Earth/HLLmDfj0">Earth</a>. Thus, it experiences seasons of <a href="/facts/Spring_(season)/3UWDpVmx">spring</a>, <a href="/facts/Summer/v3DY22Uq">summer</a>, <a href="/facts/Autumn/Rk9KKsS2">autumn</a> and <a href="/facts/Winter/kSp26z8R">winter</a> much like Earth. Mars's <a href="/facts/Orbital_eccentricity/WGlB4NBn">orbital eccentricity</a> is considerably larger, which causes its seasons to vary significantly in length. A <a href="/facts/Mars_sol/qWR8IrPp">sol</a>, or Martian day, is not that different from an Earth day: less than an hour longer. However, a Mars year is almost twice as long as an <a href="/facts/Earth_year/51V242hh">Earth year</a>.
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Timekeeping on Mars open-in-new

Timekeeping on Mars