Marsha Gonzales, age 12, of New Brunswick ny, for her question:

Why does Mars look red?

    The golden light of Venus is reflected from a thick blanket of clouds. The red glow of Mars is reflected from solid Martian landscape. The telescope shows Mars has no seas and most of the ground is a rusty orange color. Most astronomers agree that Mars is a big, rusty dusty desert with a few variations to break the reddish monotony.

    Mars has white polar caps that come and go with the seasons. Small.. bright patches here and there come and go like patches of hazy clouds. Dark patches may be shadowy hollows   but three fifths of the Martian landscape is a dull, orangy red color and this is what we see, even without the help of a telescope.