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Planet Information/Note Sheet
Mr. Holmes
Inner (Terrestrial) Planets- all inner or Terrestrial planets are rocky and small
Mercury- 1st planet from the sun
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Average distance from Sun is 57.9 million km
Completes one revolution (orbit) around sun in 88 days and completes only three rotations
(spins) every two orbits.
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system
Mercury has a rocky, crater-filled surface (like our moon.)
Scientists believe that Mercury has little to no atmosphere.
What is an atmosphere? A protective layer of gasses, solids, and liquids around a planet
Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, and has nearly no atmosphere, Temperatures
range from -183 degrees Celsius to 467 degrees Celsius (that’s a huge difference!)
The average temperature on Mercury is 167 degrees Celsius
Mercury’s diameter is 4879 km, (a little more than 1/3 of the Earth’s)
There is evidence of Oxygen, Sodium, and Helium around Mercury, but it’s thought to have
mostly come from the sun.
Mercury has no moons or rings
Venus- 2nd planet from the sun
• Average distance from the Sun is 108.2 million km.
• Orbits the Sun every 225 earth days, and rotates on its axis once every 243 earth days. Its
day is longer than its year!!
• Has a retrograde (backward) rotation, spinning in the opposite direction of its orbit around
the Sun.
• Nearly the same size as the Earth, (considered Earth’s twin) and the surface has many
craters, cracks, and volcanoes.
• The volcanoes do not appear to be active, but the planet has numerous lava flows.
• Has a very thick atmosphere that consists mostly of carbon dioxide, droplets of sulfuric
acid, but practically no water vapor. Because of this atmosphere, it reflects most of the
sunlight, and is one of the brightest planets viewed.
• This thick atmosphere allows the Sun’s heat in, but doesn’t let it escape. This is an
intense “greenhouse” effect. As a result, the temperatures are more than 450 degrees
Celsius.
• Also, the thick atmosphere causes extreme pressure on the planet; nearly 90 times the
pressure on Earth.
• In the upper layers of the atmosphere, the sulfuric acid clouds move faster than hurricane
winds on Earth.
• Diameter is 12,100 km
• Average temperature is 457 degrees Celsius
• Has no moons or rings
Earth- 3rd planet from the sun
• Average distance from the Sun: 149,597,890 km (called 1 astronomical unit, or AU).
• Earth orbits the Sun in 365.26 days, and rotates once on its axis each 23 hours 56 minutes.
• Earth is the 5th largest planet in our solar system, and only slightly larger than Venus.
• Earth is the only planet we know of so far that can support life; life that is very diverse.
• It can have water in all three known stages—solid, liquid, and gas—and liquid can only exist
in the narrow temperature range of 0 degrees Celsius to 100 degrees Celsius.
• Our atmosphere is divided into 5 layers, and is responsible for allowing life to exist, keeping
a long-term climate, and changing weather system.
• Our atmosphere helps prevent meteors from reaching our surface by causing them to burn
up, as well as protect us from harmful radiation from the Sun.
• The atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% “other.”
• Diameter is 12,756 km
• Average temperature is 15 degrees Celsius
• Has 1 moon and no rings
Mars- 4th planet from the sun
• Average distance from the Sun is 227,936,640 km.
• Orbits the Sun in 1.88 years, and makes one full rotation in 24 hours 37 minutes—very
similar to the Earth’s rotation.
• Slightly more than ½ the size of the Earth
• Has a small rocky body with large amounts of iron oxide in the surface giving it the reddishyellow color.
• We have not found life on Mars, but there are polar ice caps, and evidence suggests large
amounts of water may have been on the planet. There may have been or might still be
some form of life on Mars (it hasn’t been ruled out yet) but technology and science is the
key.
• Mars is tilted on it’s axis about 25 degrees (close to Earth’s 23.5 degrees), so it has seasons
like Earth does.
• Mars is home to the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system. It is called
Olympus Mons—27 km high, and 600 km across – and is thought to be extinct.
• Mars has an atmosphere that is much thinner than Earth’s and is made mostly of carbon
dioxide, with some nitrogen and argon.
• The temperature ranges from -143 degrees Celsius to 35 degrees Celsius.
• Diameter is 6,794 km
• Average temperature is -65 degrees Celsius
• Has 2 moons: inner moon is called Phobos, and outer moon is called Deimos.
• Mars has no rings.
Outer (Jovian or Gas Giant) Planets- All of these planets are gas,
and very large
Jupiter- 5th planet from the sun
• Distance from the Sun is 778.4 million km.
• Orbits the Sun in 11.86 years, and makes one full rotation in 9 hours 55 minutes.
• Jupiter’s diameter is over 11 times Earth’s diameter
• It is the largest planet in our solar system.
• Jupiter has more mass than all the other planets combined. Just to get an idea, you could fit
well over 1000 Earths inside Jupiter!
• As a gas giant, Jupiter’s atmosphere, and the planet itself is mostly hydrogen and
helium, with some ammonia, methane, and water vapor.
• Due to the great amount of pressure and temperature on Jupiter, scientists think Jupiter’s
core is either a very thick liquid, or a rocky type that would be different than anything we
know of on Earth..
• Many continuous swirling gas storms have been observed on Jupiter
• The most famous one is “The Great Red Spot.”
• The Great Red Spot storm has existed at least 100 years, but may have been there as long
as 400 years. Galileo reported seeing a similar storm 400 years ago.
• Three Earths could fit across the Great Red Spot.
• Diameter is 142,984 km (more than 11 times the Earth’s)
• Average temperature is -110 degrees Celsius
• Jupiter has at least 60 moons, with four main large ones: IO, Europa, Ganymede, and
Callisto.
• Jupiter has 1 four part ring made of dust and rock.
Saturn- 6th planet from the sun
• Distance from Sun is 1.427 billion km
• Orbits the Sun in 29.42 years, making one full rotation in 10 hours 39 minutes.
• Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system,
• Saturn has the lowest density.
• The density is so low that the planet would float in water!!
• Saturn’s atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen and helium, some ammonia, methane,
and water vapor.
• Most prominent feature about Saturn is its rings. The ring system is the most complex in
the solar system. Rings extend out hundreds of thousands of kilometers, and would barely
fit between Earth and our moon.
• The rings are made of pieces of rock and ice ranging from the size of a speck to tens of
meters across.
• The rings are broken down into 7 major rings, but in actuality, there are thousands
of ringlets within the major rings.
• Diameter is 120,536km (nearly 10 times the Earth’s.)
• Average temperature is -140 degrees Celsius
• At least 60 moons, with largest being Titan
Uranus- 7th planet from the sun
• Average distance from Sun is 2.871 billion km
• Orbits the Sun in 83.75 years, and makes one full rotation in 17 hours 14 minutes.
• 3rd largest planet in our solar system.
• Four times the diameter of Earth.
• Uranus’s atmosphere consists mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane.
• The methane causes the planet to have a bluish-green appearance
• Uranus’s most interesting feature is its axis of rotation is nearly parallel to its orbital path.
(sideways!)
• Some scientists think its axis of rotation is due to a collision with another planet.
• While this incredible axis causes very long “seasons” (over 20 years long), the temperatures
don’t change much due to its distance from the Sun. The temperature near the cloud-tops is
about -215 degrees Celsius.
• Diameter is 51,118 (nearly 4 times the Earth’s)
• Average temperature is -195 degrees Celsius
• Has 21 moons, and 11 rings. These rings are different than Jupiter’s and Saturn’s; they
consist of a fine dust.
Neptune- 8th planet from the sun
• Average distance from Sun is 4.498 billion km
• Orbits the Sun in 164.79 years, and makes one full rotation in 16 hours 7minutes. It has not
made it fully around the Sun since it was discovered in 1846!
• The first time it will complete an orbit since it has been discovered will be 9/23/2011.
• While it is considered the 8th planet in distance from the sun, it is actually farther from the
sun than Pluto for a 20 year period out of every 248 earth years.
• Smallest of the Jovian or Gas Giants, but the 4th largest planet in our solar system. It
is about 3 and 3/4 times the diameter of Earth.
• Neptune’s atmosphere consists mostly of hydrogen, helium, and methane.
• Very similar to Uranus and also giving it a bluish green appearance
• Under the atmosphere and gaseous surface, scientists think there is a layer of liquid water,
methane, and ammonia that might change to solid ice. It probably has a rocky core.
• Similar to Jupiter, a major storm was discovered in 1989 and was named “The Great Dark
Spot,” but in 1997, it could not be seen again.
• Diameter is 49,528 (nearly 3.75 times the Earth’s) 3.75=3 ¾
• Average temperature is -200 degrees Celsius
• Has 8 moons, with Triton being the largest and has a thin atmosphere composed of mostly
nitrogen.
• Neptune has four rings