Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday
on Twitter Every planet has a symbol that represents it. Some
have been in use for thousands of years. The symbol for Mars
represents the shield and spear of Mars, the Roman god of war.
It is also the male/masculine symbol and the symbol for iron.
The same symbol is used for the planet in the pseudo-science of
astrology. Now that you know the symbol for Mars, you might be
interested in some facts about the planet itself. If you came
here looking for astrological references, please search ”junk
science” in Google and you will find what you need. Now, on to
Martian facts. The tallest volcano in the Solar System is on
Mars. Olympus Mons is a giant shield volcano that reaches an
elevation of 27 km, and measures 550 km across. Scientists
attribute its size to the lack of plate tectonics on Mars.
Without tectonic plate movement a single hotspot was able to
build the volcano over billions of years. The planet also
features the longest and deepest canyo