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Exploration of Jupiter wikipedia , lookup
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History of Solar System formation and evolution hypotheses wikipedia , lookup
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2.1j describe the main physical characteristics of the planets (including surface features, atmosphere, temperature and composition) THE MAJOR CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH PLANET MERCURY Closest to the Sun VENUS Hottest (475˚C) Spins opposite way (retrograde) EARTH Life MARS Red Planet JUPITER Biggest Planet Rings SATURN Rings visible from Earth URANUS Axis tilted on its side Rings NEPTUNE Blue Planet Coldest Planet Rings SURFACE FEATURES OF THE PLANETS MERCURY Rocky, with many lunar-like craters up to 200 km across. 2 km-4 km high cliffs, hundreds of kilometres long, caused by the planet cooling and shrinking. Darkest surface of all the planets. VENUS Surface hidden by clouds. Detail found by radar. Mostly rolling plains with impact craters up to 100 km. Active volcanoes. Rift valleys thousands of kilometres long. EARTH 71% covered by water. 29% covered by land. MARS The red planet because of iron-rich rocks and dust. Valles Marineris is a huge Grand Canyon 4,000 km long, 600 km wide and 7 km deep. Olympus Mons – a volcano 26 km high. Seasonal polar ice-caps - made of carbon dioxide. JUPITER Gas giant SATURN Gas giant URANUS Gas giant NEPTUNE Gas giant The 4 inner planets are all small and rocky The 4 outer planets are all gas giants ATMOSPHERE OF THE PLANETS MERCURY Virtually nil Traces of Oxygen, Sodium, Potassium and Helium VENUS Dense atmosphere Carbon Dioxide 97% Nitrogen 3% Clouds with Sulphuric Acid EARTH Nitrogen Oxygen Argon MARS 78% 21% 1% Thin Carbon Dioxide 96% Nitrogen 3% JUPITER Dense atmosphere Hydrogen 90% Helium 10% Traces of Ammonia ice and Ammonium Hydrosulphide Winds of 360 km/hour Great Red Spot SATURN Dense atmosphere Hydrogen 96% Helium 3% Methane and Ammonia Winds of 1,800 km/hour Great White Spot URANUS Dense atmosphere Hydrogen 83% Helium 15% Methane 2% Greenish tint to atmosphere NEPTUNE Dense atmosphere Hydrogen 84% Helium 14% Methane 2% Blue colour to atmosphere Great Dark Spot All the gas giants are made of gases similar to the Sun – hydrogen and helium Smaller inner planets have lower gravity – too small to keep much atmosphere TEMPERATURES OF THE PLANETS MERCURY Day Night + 350˚C - 170˚C VENUS Day Night + 475˚C similar to daytime (due to greenhouse gases) EARTH Highest Lowest + 55˚C - 88˚C MARS Day Night + 27˚C - 123˚C JUPITER Surface - 153˚C SATURN Surface - 185˚C URANUS Surface - 214˚C NEPTUNE Surface - 225˚C The further from the Sun, the colder the planet becomes (the exception is Venus because its atmosphere contains a high concentration of greenhouse gases) COMPOSITION OF THE PLANETS MERCURY Core – Large and iron rich Crust – Thin, with a low density VENUS Core – Mainly iron and nickel Crust – Relatively thin EARTH Core – Solid inner section of iron and nickel, liquid outer section Mantle – Iron/Magnesium silicates Crust – Thin with tectonic plates MARS Core – Solid, mainly iron + some nickel Crust – Thick compared to Earth JUPITER Core – Small, solid, iron rich at 30,000 K Above the core, the pressure is so great (about x3 million Earth atmospheres) that a liquid, metallic hydrogen zone is formed SATURN Core – Small and solid at 15,000 K Surrounding the core is metallic hydrogen with liquid hydrogen and helium further out URANUS Core – Small and rocky at 6,400 K Mantle – Liquid of water, ammonia, methane and other hydrocarbons (pressure about x5 million Earth atmospheres prevents evaporation) NEPTUNE Core – Small and solid made of iron and magnesium silicates at 4,450 K Mantle - Liquid of water, ammonia and methane (pressure of several million Earth atmospheres prevents evaporation) The mass of Jupiter is x2.5 the mass of all the other planets in the Solar System Picture credits for each page : (Earth) NASA-JSC Apollo 17 (Other planets) NASA-JPL