Download The Planets

The Planets
Mercury
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Closest planet to the Sun
2nd smallest planet in our solar system (only slightly larger than our moon)
Very large iron core makes it almost as heavy as Earth
Has no satellites (moons)
The daytime temperatures can reach 800 degrees Fahrenheit
Orbits the Sun in about 88 or 89 Earth days (short years)
Rotates once about every 59 Earth days (long days)
The Sun moves backward in the sky because it orbits the Sun so fast and
rotates on it’s own axis so slow
It’s orbit takes it close to the Sun and then very far from the Sun
Exterior is a lot like our moon (barren and cratered)
Interior is a lot like Earth (iron core and a rocky mantle)
Learned much of what we know from the Mariner 10 probe (1973)
The iron core gives mercury a magnetic field
It is so close to the Sun that astronomers have a hard time seeing it
Has no atmosphere
Venus
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Second planet from the Sun
Brightest object in the sky besides the Sun and our moon
Named after the Roman goddess of beauty and love (Venus)
Has phases like our moon
Has no satellites (moons)
Sixth largest planet in the solar system (just a little smaller than Earth)
Known as Earth’s “sister” planet (almost as big as Earth)
Gravity is about 90% of Earth’s
Has an iron core but does NOT have a magnetic field
Takes 243 Earth days to rotate on it’s axis (long days)
Averages over 850 degrees Fahrenheit (the hottest planet)
Carbon dioxide (CO2) makes up 97% of its atmosphere creating an extreme
version of the greenhouse effect
Considered probably the least fit planet for living things
Has dense clouds of sulfuric acid blocking any view of the surface
Surface is mainly large plains with a few mountain areas
Verera 10 and twenty other spacecraft have visited Venus
Takes 225 days to orbit the Sun
Is the most volcanic planet in our solar system
Has fewer impact craters because is constantly changed by lava flow
Earth
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The only planet that we know of that supports life
The 3rd planet from the sun which therefore keeps the temperatures just
right – not too hot and not frozen up
Atmosphere that traps the heat in but blocks the harmful radiation
Atmosphere that is oxygen rich allowing us to breath (21% oxygen)
71% of our planet is covered in water
Called the Blue Planet because ¾ is covered in water
Carbon found all throughout our crust (all life is carbon based)
5th largest planet in the solar system
Iron inner core in a liquid outer core creates a magnetic field which protects
us from harmful solar radiation
Mars
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4th planet from the Sun
Known as the “Red Planet” because of its reddish iron-rich soil
Has two moons – Phobos and Deimos
Probably the most similar to Earth of all the planets
Only about ½ the size of Earth
Has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, and wind storms just like Earth
A day is very similar to Earth’s day (24 hours 37 minutes)
Has Water (frozen in the polar ice caps)
Is a cold, dry, desert
Average surface temperature is -55 degrees Celsius
Has a thin atmosphere made of 95% carbon dioxide (CO2) and then other
gases like nitrogen, argon, oxygen, and water vapor
There is a lot of evidence to suggest that liquid water did flow on Mars at one
time
Contains largest volcano in our solar system (Olympus Monds) that is twice
the height of Mt. Everest
Contains a canyon system (Valles Marineres) that stretches 3,000 miles
across the planet
Mariner 9 orbited the planet giving us pictures (1971)
Viking 1 & 2 probes were launched to Mars in 1975 to retrieve samples
Jupiter
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Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system - and the largest object (not
counting the sun).
Jupiter has the largest storm ever observed - the Great Red Spot - and is big
enough to easily fit the earth inside of it.
Jupiter contains three times the mass of all the other planets put together.
Jupiter has more than 60 moons, including Ganymede - the largest moon in
the solar system.
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Jupiter's gravity is stronger than earth's.
Jupiter is a gas giant made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
The Pioneer, Voyager, and Galileo missions have sent back hundreds of
pictures.
Jupiter has a huge magnetic field.
Jupiter spins once on its axis every ten hours.
Saturn
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The rings are composed of small particles (dust and rocks) orbiting the
planet
The rings form bands that are lettered (a, b, c, etc.) in order of discovery
The rings may be made up of remnants of Saturn’s formation or a moon or
asteroid that was somehow torn apart
Has over 50 moons
“Shepherd Moons” seem to help keep the rings in place
One of its moons (Titan) is the only moon with a significant atmosphere
(larger than Mercury)
Is a gas giant
6th planet from the Sun
gaseous atmosphere consists primarily of hydrogen and helium along with
trace amounts of methane, ammonia, sulfur, and water vapor
Has rocky and ice core
100 times the mass of Earth
Very low density (could float in a giant lake)
Called the “jewel of the Solar system”
2nd largest planet in our solar system
Voyager spacecraft
Uranus
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7th planet from the Sun
3rd largest planet
Is a gas giant
Has about 30 moons
Tipped almost 90 degrees on its side (98 degrees)
Tilt creates some very crazy seasonal changes (one pole in Sun for 42 years
and other in dark for 42 years)
Takes 84 Earth years to orbit the Sun
Has rocky core surrounded by gases like hydrogen, helium and methane
creating a mushy seas on the surface (could not stand on it)
Has rings that are thinner with gaps in between
Is blue-green in color because the methane gas in the atmosphere absorbs the
red color from the Sun
Neptune
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8th planet from the Sun
Is a gas giant
Slightly smaller than Uranus
About four times the diameter of Earth
Voyager 1 and 2 have given us information about Neptune
Is really cold
Has a dark blue spot (storm System) that is larger than Earth\
Composition is a lot like Uranus (small rocky core surrounded by liquids and
gases)
Blue in color because of the methane
Has rings (very narrow and bunched up or thicker in some places)
Has more than a dozen moons with the biggest being Triton (the only moon
with a retrograde orbit
Pluto
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Is no longer considered a planet (since 2006)
Now classified as a “dwarf planet” which also includes Ceres and Eris
Has a Moon (Charon) that is half as big as Pluto itself
Charon and Pluto move around each other ever 6.5 days
Has at least two other small moons (Hydra and Nix)
Is frozen and dark
Rocky core with frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon Dioxide (CO2)
No spacecraft has ever been there
The smallest planet
Takes 248 years to orbit the Sun
Crosses the orbit of Neptune (only planet to cross another’s orbit)
Summary of Inner/Terrestrial Planets (Mercury/Venus/Earth/Mars)
 Solid surface; rocky; terrestrial
 Smaller
 Relatively closer together
 Few moons
 Iron cores
Summary of Outer/Gaseous Planets (Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Neptune)
 Gaseous; no solid surface
 Larger
 Relatively further apart
 Many moons
 Rings
 Rock cores