Download Inner Planets

The Inner Planets
The Inner Planets are:
Small: Compared to the Outer Planets
 Rocky: Rocky surface – thin atmosphere
 Dense: Heavy for their size
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Inner Planets – Terrestrial Planets
 The
Inner Planets are also called the
Terrestrial Planets
Mercury
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Smallest Inner Planet
Thin Atmosphere – Sodium
Day: 59 Earth days (rotation)
Year: 88 Earth days (revolution)
Temp: Day: 425 deg. Celsius
Night: -180 deg. Celsius
Mariner 10 space probe
Messenger (2009)
No Moons
Many craters….
Mercury
Venus
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About the same size as earth
Many clouds-sulfuric acid
High Temp.-Greenhouse effect
>450 deg. Celsius
Carbon dioxide atmosphere
Volcanoes
Retrograde Rotation: backwards
No Moons
Day:243 earth days
Year: 225 earth days
Magellan probe mapped surface
Venus
Earth
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The only planet with a lot of liquid
water.
Active Planet
weather-volcanoes-earthquakes
Atmosphere: Nitrogen-oxygen
1 large Moon
Day: 24 hours
Year: 365 ¼ days
Earth
Mars
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The Red Planet-rust in the soil
Polar ice caps
2 Moons – Phobos, Deimos
Largest Volcano-Olympus Mons
Many non-active volcanoes
Viking-pathfinder-spirit-opportunity
½ the size of earth- ½ gravity
Day: 24.5 hours
Year: 688 earth days
Temp: -57 deg. Celsius
Atmosphere: Thin-carbon dioxide
Mars
Mercury
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From Mariner
Mercury transits
the Sun
Venus
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From Magellan
Brightest object
after the Sun and
the Moon
Earth
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From Space
At Night
Mars
Mars
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Face on Mars….before and after