From today's featured article
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, is a terrestrial planet and is the second smallest of the Solar System's planets with a diameter of 6,779 km (4,212 mi). A Martian solar day (sol) is 24.5 hours and a Martian solar year is 1.88 Earth years (687 Earth days). Mars has two small and irregular natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos. Carbon dioxide is substantially present in Mars's polar ice caps and thin atmosphere. It has the highest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons, and the largest canyon, Valles Marineris. There are large annual temperature swings on the surface, between −78.5 °C (−109.3 °F) and 5.7 °C (42.3 °F) – similar to Earth's seasons. Due to its geological history, the possibility of past or present life on Mars remains of great scientific interest. Mars has been explored by uncrewed spacecraft and rovers, and is an attractive target for future human exploration missions. (This article is part of a featured topic: Solar System.)
Did you know ...
- ... that Enchylium limosum (example pictured) loves lime?
- ... that despite graduating last in his West Point class, Frederick Kimble eventually became a general?
- ... that the 2024 film 18×2 Beyond Youthful Days was filmed in Japan in March to capture both snowfalls and cherry blossoms in the same month?
- ... that a will bequeathing the Chestnut Street Opera House to the University of Pennsylvania was contested at the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania?
- ... that the comedian Jonny Pelham is one of only 200 people in the UK to suffer from popliteal pterygium syndrome?
- ... that after a CD edition of Taylor Swift's album Midnights containing the exclusive song "You're Losing Me" was released at MetLife Stadium, some of the first purchasers uploaded the song online?
- ... that BBC Breakfast's resident doctor Nighat Arif has advocated for more women to be given vibrators for medical reasons?
- ... that Soviet prisoners of war were the second-largest group of victims of Nazi mass killing?
- ... that Katherine Sleeper Walden was a journalist, postmistress, innkeeper, community organizer, environmental activist, and conservationist who now has three mountains named after her?
In the news
- Switzerland, represented by Nemo (pictured) with "The Code", wins the Eurovision Song Contest.
- A series of solar storms impact Earth, creating aurorae seen further from the poles than usual.
- Former prime minister of Fiji Frank Bainimarama is sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to pervert the course of justice.
- Mahamat Déby is declared the winner of the Chadian presidential election.
- Flooding in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, leaves more than 140 people dead and at least 130 others missing.
On this day
May 14: Feast day of Saint Matthias (Catholicism); Independence Day in Israel (2024)
- 1264 – Second Barons' War: King Henry III was defeated at the Battle of Lewes (monument pictured) and forced to sign the Mise of Lewes, making Simon de Montfort the de facto ruler of England.
- 1857 – Mindon Min was crowned as King of Burma.
- 1863 – American Civil War: Union troops captured Jackson, the capital of Mississippi.
- 1931 – Five people were killed in Ådalen, Sweden, as soldiers opened fire on an unarmed trade union demonstration.
- 1948 – David Ben-Gurion publicly read the Israeli Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall in Tel Aviv.
- Fanny Imlay (b. 1794)
- Mary Seacole (d. 1881)
- Miranda Cosgrove (b. 1993)
- Taruni Sachdev (b. 1998; d. 2012)
Today's featured picture
The Tarantula Nebula, also known as 30 Doradus, is a large H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). It is one of the largest H II regions in the Local Group, with an estimated diameter around 650 to 1860 light years. It is around 160,000 light-years from Earth and has apparent magnitude of 8. The Tarantula Nebula was first observed by Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille during an expedition to the Cape of Good Hope between 1751 and 1753. This high-resolution photograph was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and shows the star-forming region of Tarantula Nebula with the R136 super star cluster at its center. Photograph credit: NASA, ESA, Space Telescope Science Institute
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