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Mercury
•Smallest planet – 1/3
diameter of Earth
•75 % of surface is covered
in craters similar to the
moon
•No permanent atmosphere
•400 Celsius to -200 Celsius
•Water ice discovered in
craters located in the poles
Venus
•“Earth’s twin” similar in
size
•Hottest planet ~ 485
Celsius
•Thick atmosphere of
mostly Carbon Dioxide
causes intense
Greenhouse Effect
•Can be viewed in the
sky in the early morning
and evenings
Earth
Mars
•Evidence that liquid
water was present in the
past
•Water and wind shaped
the surface features
•Has a thin atmosphere
of mostly Carbon Dioxide
•Wind storms
• ~27 Celsius to -125
Celsius
Jupiter
•Largest planet, more
massive than all of the
planets and moon in the
solar system
•Colored bands of
sinking (dark) and rising
gases (light)
•Giant Red Spot is a
hurricane that has
lasted over 100 years
•Most moons of any
planet in our solar
system ~66
Saturn
•Most complex system
of rings
•Colored bands on
surface
•Has an internal source
of heat
• ~ 1800 mph wind
storms
Uranus
•Axis of rotation is
tipped on it’s side,
it’s rolling
•Blue green color
is caused by
methane in the
atmosphere
Neptune
•Had Great
Blue Spot
•Storm
disappeared
•Extreme winds
~ 2200 mph
Pluto and other Dwarf Planets
reclassified in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union
• ~ 50 dwarf planets in the
solar system
•Pluto -5 know moons
•sometimes closer than
Neptune to the Sun during
it’s orbit
•Eris – largest dwarf planet
•Ceres – closest distance
to Earth
•Makemake •Haumea – elongated
shape