<p>Mars currently has albedo 0.250, 81.7% of Earth's somewhat brighter 0.3. A terraformed Mars would presumably have a similar albedo. That would make it slightly brighter and bluer, about 0.2 ($2.5\log_{10}(0.3/0.25)$) magnitudes brighter. But this is not going to change the overall magnitude ($\approx -3$ at most) much. </p>

<p>Various aspects of the terraforming assumptions may nudge this up (more ice, extra light from solar mirrors) or down (less clouds? deliberate ice darkening?)</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-16T16:52:00.897Z
2018-02-16T16:52:00.897Z
Anders Sandberg
<p>I pulled these pictures from Google. I hope it is enough to answer with pictures?</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1lwta.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1lwta.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>
<a href="https://william-black.deviantart.com/art/Terraforming-Mars-392449850" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://william-black.deviantart.com/art/Terraforming-Mars-392449850</a></p>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars</a>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/oAMjB.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/oAMjB.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-16T21:59:42.423Z
2018-02-16T21:59:42.423Z
Muze
<p>Question in the title. Currently, Mars is a small orange dot in the sky. But what if green, blue, and some white were added? I wouldn't expect it to be too different- a large portion of it will remain pretty much the way it was, but with more snow (Tharsis bulge is REALLY high up).</p>

<solar-system><light><mars>
What would a terraformed Mars look like from Earth?
GoingFTL
# What would a terraformed Mars look like from Earth?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-16)

Question in the title. Currently, Mars is a small orange dot in the sky. But what if green, blue, and some white were added? I wouldn't expect it to be too different- a large portion of it will remain pretty much the way it was, but with more snow (Tharsis bulge is REALLY high up).

**Tags:** solar-system, light, mars


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-16. Score: 5

Mars currently has albedo 0.250, 81.7% of Earth's somewhat brighter 0.3. A terraformed Mars would presumably have a similar albedo. That would make it slightly brighter and bluer, about 0.2 ($2.5\log\_{10}(0.3/0.25)$) magnitudes brighter. But this is not going to change the overall magnitude ($\approx -3$ at most) much.

Various aspects of the terraforming assumptions may nudge this up (more ice, extra light from solar mirrors) or down (less clouds? deliberate ice darkening?)


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-16. Score: 0

I pulled these pictures from Google. I hope it is enough to answer with pictures?

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/1lwta.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/1lwta.jpg)
<https://william-black.deviantart.com/art/Terraforming-Mars-392449850>

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Mars>
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/oAMjB.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/oAMjB.jpg)


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