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The Inner Planets Read pages 38-45 and fill in as much as you can on the table Mercury-Roman Messenger God • Composition: Rocks/iron rich core • Size: Smallest planet in the solar system, about the size of our moon • Atmosphere: Very little to none; not enough gravity and too hot • Hydrosphere: None • Geosphere: Lots of craters, but nothing to wear them down; no plate tectonics/volcanoes • Temperature: Closest to the sun, temperature ranges from 430 C to -170 C • Fun Fact: Orbits in less than one Earth year; Very long days (58 earth days long) Venus-Roman Goddess of Love • Composition: Rocks/iron rich core • Size: Nearly the same size as Earth • Atmosphere: Very thick clouds cover the entire planet, air is mostly carbon dioxide and sulfur; hottest planet due to greenhouse effect • Hydrosphere: 0.002% water vapor • Geosphere: Heavy volcanic activity-more volcanoes then anywhere else, no plate tectonics • Temperature: 465 C (hot enough to melt lead) • Fun Fact: Rotates backwards (clockwise); it’s day is longer than it’s year Earth • Composition: Rocks, iron core • Size: Radius is 3,959 miles (6,371 km) • Atmosphere: N and O mostly; offers UV protection from ozone layer • Hydrosphere: Water present in all three forms • Geosphere: Only planet with plate tectonics • Temperature: Average temperature is 14 C • Fun Fact: It’s not a perfect sphere! Mars • • • • Composition: Rock, iron rich core Size: About the size of our core Atmosphere: Thin, mostly carbon dioxide Hydrosphere: Snows on Mars (dry ice and water ice); has frozen water at the poles; thought to have water in the past • Geosphere: Largest volcano in the solar system (Olympus Mons); has canyons but no evidence of plate tectonics • Temperature: -140 C to 20 C • Fun Fact: Largest canyon in the solar system (Valles Marieneris) Earth vs. The Inner Planets • We are the habitable zone – We call this the Goldilocks zone because it not too hot or too cold it’s just right – Allows us to have all three states of water • We believe that life started in the oceans and early life started photosynthesis to give us oxygen, therefore we believe liquid water is required for life on other planets • Atmosphere filters out harmful radiation from the sun, not seen on other planets
