Download The Inner Planets of Our Solar System

The Inner Planets of Our Solar System
Why are they called the Inner planets?
• They are closer together and closer to the sun
Mercury
l Closest planet to our sun
l Smallest planet in the solar system
l Planet with the longest day
l Fastest orbiting planet
l Caloris Basin is the largest impact crater in the solar system
l 70% metallic components
l Large core
Mercury- Fast Facts
l Surface temperature range: −183°C to 427°C
l That’s −297°F to 801°F!
l 1,864 miles in diameter
l Rotates in 59 Earth days
l Rotates clockwise
l Revolves in 88 Earth days
l Zero moons
l 0.387 AU (average distance from the sun)
l Virtually no atmosphere
l Leads to a large amount of impact craters
Venus
l Second planet from the sun
l Hottest planet in the solar system
l Has the densest atmosphere in the solar system
l Often called “Earth’s twin” because they are similar in size,
gravity, and bulk composition
l Large numbers of volcanoes
l Low number of impact craters
Venus- Fast Facts
l Surface temperature range: 450°C to 480°C
l 4,474 miles in diameter
l Rotates in 243 Earth days
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l Rotates counter clockwise
Revolves in 225 Earth days
Zero moons
0.723 AU (average distance from the sun)
Atmosphere: mostly Carbon Dioxide
l Very thick
Earth- Fast Facts
l Surface temperature range: -89°C to 57.7°C
l 4,971 miles in diameter
l Rotates in 1 Earth day
l Rotates clockwise
l Revolves in 365.3 Earth days
l One moon (“Earth’s moon”)
l 1 AU (average distance from the sun)
l Atmosphere: mostly Nitrogen
Mars
l Fourth planet from the sun
l Called the “red planet”
l Caused by the iron oxide on the surface
l Has volcanoes, valleys, deserts and polar ice caps
l No liquid water has been found
l Largest volcano in the solar system called “Olympus Mons”
Mars- Fast Facts
l Surface temperature range: -87°C to -5°C
l 2,609 miles in diameter
l Rotates in 24 hours and 37 minutes (Earth time)
l Rotates clockwise
l Revolves in 687 Earth days
l Two moons (Phobos and Deimos)
l 1.52 AU (average distance from the sun)
l Atmosphere: mostly Carbon Dioxide
l Thin layer