Download Charting the Planets

Charting the Planets
(Source: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov)
Categories
Rocky or Gas
Distance
from Sun
(millions of
kilometers)
Revolution
(Year)
Rotation
(Day)
Mercury
Rocky
Venus
Rocky
Earth
Rocky
Mars
Rocky
Jupiter
Gas
Saturn
Gas
Uranus
Gas
Neptune
Gas
57.9
108.2
149.6
227.9
778.3
1,427
2,871
5,914
88
Days
59
days
225
Days
243 days
(backwards)
365
Days
23 hours
56 min.
687
Days
24 hours
31 min.
12
Years
9 hours
55 min.
29
Years
10 hours
42 min.
165
Years
16 hours
6 min.
Diameter
(kilometers)
Moons
Rings
Temperature
4,880
12,100
12,756
6,794
143,200
120,000
84
Years
17 hours
12 min.
(backwards)
51,800
0
No
-300o F. to
800 o F.
None
0
No
900 o F.
Carbon
Dioxide
1
No
-125o F.
to 125o F.
Nitrogen
Oxygen
2
No
-200o F.
to 72o F.
Carbon
Dioxide
63
Yes
-230o F.
(average)
Hydrogen
Helium
63
Yes
-284o F.
(average)
Hydrogen
Helium
.86
1
.38
2.87
1.32
27
Yes
-383o F.
(average)
Hydrogen
Helium
Methane
.93
13
Yes
-392o F.
(average)
Hydrogen
Helium
Methane
1.23
Atmosphere
Weight on
Planet*
.38
49,528
as of 3/08
*To calculate your weight on the planet, multiply your weight by the number in the column. For example, if you weighed
100 pound on Earth, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mercury, 86 pounds on Venus, etc.
Other Bodies in the Solar System
Body
Diameter
(kilometers)
Rotation
(Day)
Revolution
(Year)
Moons
Rings
Moon
(Rocky)
3,500
29.5
Earth
Days
Unknown
29.5 Earth
Days
N/A
No
-300o F. to
210o F.
None
Eris
(Icy)
(plutoid*)
Pluto
(Icy)
(plutoid*)
2,400
557 Earth
Years
1
No
-406o F.
None
2,300
4,400 (closest)**
7,400 (farthest)
6.4 Earth
Days
248 Earth
Years
3
No
-380o F.
1,500 km
5,926 (closest)**
7,960 (farthest)
?
310 Earth
Years
0
No
-406o F.
Nitrogen,
CO2, and
Methane
(Thin)
Methane
MakeMake
(Mah-Key)
(Icy)
(plutoid)*
Ceres
(Rocky)
(dwarf
planet)
950
446
9 hours
4.6 Earth
Years
0
No
-100o F.
(Sun high
overhead)
Distance from Sun
(millions of
kilometers)
384,400
kilometers (from
Earth)
5,700 (closest)**
14,700 (farthest)
Temperature Atmosphere
None
*plutoid – a dwarf planet outside the orbit of Neptune. Term adopted by the International Astronomical Union in 2008.
**Closest – closest approach to Sun; Farthest – farthest distance from Sun.
Asteroids
o Primarily found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
o Composed of about 150,000 objects.
o Range in size from 580 miles to hundreds of feet in diameter.
o
o
o
Three largest – Ceres, Juno, & Pallas.
Rocky bodies.
All asteroids packed together, make an object smaller than the Moon.
Comets
o
o
o
Sometimes called dirty snowballs or "icy mudballs". They are a mixture of ices (both water and frozen gases) and dust.
When they are near the Sun and active, comets have several distinct parts:
Nucleus: mostly ice and gas with a small amount of dust and other solids.
Coma: dense cloud of water, carbon dioxide and other gases that surround the nucleus.
Dust tail: up to 10 million km long composed of smoke-sized dust particles driven off the nucleus by
escaping gases; this is the most prominent part of a comet to the unaided eye.
May come from the Oort Cloud.
May contain as many as a trillion comets.
Six trillion miles (one light year) from the Sun.
Kuiper Belt
o
o
A disk-shaped region past the orbit of Neptune extending roughly from three billion to 7 billion miles from the Sun.
Contains many small icy bodies.
Space probes:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Sun – United States - Pioneer 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount, Ulysses, Solar Max, SOHO. Germany – Helios-1.
Japan – Yohkoh (Sunbeam).
Mercury – Mariner 10 (MESSENGER is traveling towards Mercury – scheduled to arrive March 18, 2011).
Venus – United States: Mariner 2, Mariner 5, Mariner 10, Pioneer Venus 1 (Pioneer 12), Pioneer Venus 2 (Pioneer 13), Galileo,
and Magellan. Russia – Venera 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, & 14; Zond 1, Vega 1, Vega 2.
Mars – United States – Mariner 4, 6, 7, 9; Viking 1, 2; Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Pathfinder, Mars Odyssey, Mars Rovers
Spirit & Opportunity; Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter; Phoenix Polar Lander. Russia – Mars 2, 3, 5, 6; and Phobos 2. European
Space Agency – Mars Express.
Asteroids – United States - NEAR Shoemaker, Galileo, Cassini, Deep Space 1, Stardust. Japan – Hayabusa (Peregrine
Falcon).
Jupiter – Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Galileo, Cassini.
Saturn – Pioneer 11, Voyager 1, Voyager 2, Cassini. European Space Agency Huygens probe (landed on Titan).
o
o
o
o
Uranus – Voyager 2.
Neptune – Voyager 2.
Pluto – New Horizons will visit in March 2015.
Comets – United States – Stardust, Deep Impact, Deep Space 1. European Space Agency – Giotto.