REESE

ALL PICTURES AND INFORMATION CAME FROM:

NASA WEBSITE

AND HTTP://WWW.LPI.USRA.EDU/EDUCATION/EXPLORE/SOLAR_SYSTEM/BACKGROUND/

The Planets

MERCURY

MERCURY

Mercury is about one-third the size of Earth. It is the closest to our Sun, orbiting it in just 88 days. Because

it is so close to the Sun, its surface temperatures are extreme, ranging from 427°C (800°F) on the sunward side to –183°C (–297°F) on the side facing away from the Sun.

Mercury has no atmosphere and no surface water; the high temperatures prevent these from forming. EXCEPT-Frozen water was found at the poles!!!!

The surface of Mercury looks like our Moon. It is covered by craters, indicating its long history of bombardment by asteroids and other impactors. Other than impact events, Mercury's surface has not been modified in billions of years; Mercury is not geologically active. While there is evidence of ancient lava flows, Mercury has no active volcanoes. Because it lacks an atmosphere and flowing water it has no active weathering processes.

Its core is very large (size of moon) and 75% is Nickel.

VENUS

VENUS

Venus is almost the size of Earth. Its rotation is very slow. Venus turns once on its axis

every 243 Earth days and it spins backward relative to the other planets. The time it takes to rotate is very close to the time it takes to orbit the Sun.

Surface temperatures on Venus range from 377°C to 487°C (710° to 908°F) — even hotter than Mercury! The reason that Venus is hotter, even though it is farther from the Sun, is that it has a thick atmosphere composed of carbon dioxide and traces of water vapor and sulfuric acid. This atmosphere — about 90 times the pressure of Earth's atmosphere — creates an intense greenhouse effect; heat is trapped in the atmosphere.

Venus has many volcanoes, some of which may still be active.

Earth

EARTH

Earth is a dynamic planet. It also is the only planet we know that has life.

It spins on its axis once a day and orbits the Sun once a year (other planet's years and days often are presented relative to Earth's).

The rotation axis is tilted (23 ◦), giving Earth its seasons. Surface temperatures range from –73° to 48°C (–100° to 120°F) and liquid water is abundant.

Earth's atmosphere traps energy from sunlight, creating a greenhouse effect that warms the surface. It also moderates the climate and protects the surface from damaging components of solar radiation. Gases: water vapor, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide.

Earth has water, rock, and tectonic cycles, which are important for renewing nutrients.

It has one natural satellite — the Moon.

MARS

MARS

Mars is about half the size of Earth. Its period of rotation is very close to Earth's, but it takes

about two Earth years to orbit the Sun. Mars is tilted on its axis (25 ◦), so it experiences seasons.

Surface temperatures are cold — –83° to –33°C (–117° to –27°F) — and the planet is very dry.

The atmosphere is thin and composed mostly of carbon dioxide. There is no liquid water present at the surface. There may be frozen water in the subsurface, and Mars has ice caps in its polar regions. The ice is a combination of carbon dioxide and water ice. There is evidence that Mars had flowing water and oceans at its surface during its early history, perhaps until about three and a half billion years ago.

Mars has the tallest volcano (Olympus Mons) in our solar system — it is about 22 kilometers tall (almost 14 miles high). Some of the volcanoes on Mars have been recently active.

Mars has two small moons - Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror)

Mars Rover

ASTEROID BELT

ASTEROID BELT

The asteroid belt resides between the inner planets and the outer planets. Actually, there are several distinct bands within the belt.

Asteroids are rocky remnants from our early solar system.

They range in size from a 1000 kilometers (620 miles) across to the size of sand grains.

JUPITER

JUPITER

Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system; about 1000 Earths could fit inside a hollow Jupiter.

It contains more mass than all the other planets combined. Jupiter spins on its axis once every 10 hours and orbits the Sun

once every 12 years. It is about 90% hydrogen and 10% helium with some methane,

water, and ammonia. Temperatures reach –200°C (–325°F) at the top of the

atmosphere. The atmosphere is tumultuous, divided into distinct bands.

Wind speeds are high, up to 400 kilometers per hour (250 miles per hour) and lightening is frequent.

The Giant Red Spot is a massive storm system larger than the diameter of Earth that has been raging for at least 400 years.

Jupiter has at least 63 moons. Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter's moons, is larger than the planet Mercury.

Jupiter’s Four Main Moons

The larger two, Callisto and Ganymede, are roughly the size of the planet Mercury. The smallest, Io and Europa, are approximately the size of Earth's Moon.

IO

Average surface temperature of

–150 C

Thin, patchy atmosphere of sulfur compounds

No known liquid water

Highly volcanic

Europa

Europa is covered by a water-ice shell no more than 150 kilometers thick

Average surface temperature –145C

No atmosphere

Ganymede

Largest moon in ALL of Solar System; bigger than Mercury, with bright (younger) patches and dark (older) patches

Older regions may be 4 billion years old

Ice crust

May have salty ocean beneath ice crust

Callisto

Mostly made of ice and rock, without a real core.

Strong new evidence of salty ocean underneath an ice crust.

SATURN

SATURN

Saturn is the second-largest planet. Its day is 11 hours long and its orbit around the

Sun takes about 30 years. Its composition and atmosphere are similar to

Jupiter's. Its temperatures range from -191° C to >-130° C

Winds reach 1770 kilometers per hour (1100 miles an hour). Saturn is best known for its beautiful rings. The ring system stretches to a diameter of 250,000 kilometers (155,000 miles) but is only 1 kilometer thick (a little over half a mile).

Saturn has 53 moons and counting.

Titan

Titan is the biggest of the 53 known moons.

The temperature at Titan's surface is about -289 degrees Fahrenheit (-178 degrees Celsius).

Titan is of great interest to scientists because it is the only moon in the solar system known to have clouds and a mysterious, thick, planet-like atmosphere.

Titan's atmospheric pressure is about 60 percent greater than the Earth‘s-- (pressure found at the bottom of a swimming pool.)

URANUS

URANUS

Uranus was the first planet discovered by telescope. Like the other gas giants, its atmosphere is mostly hydrogen and helium.

It has a little methane in its atmosphere, which absorbs red light, giving Uranus its blue-green color. It has He and H too. Its temperature ranges from -214° C to >-205° C

The interior of Uranus contains more rock and ice than Jupiter and Saturn.

It rotates on its axis once every 17 hours and orbits the Sun once every 84 years.

Unlike the other planets, Uranus' axis is tilted so that the planet rotates on its side. Given Uranus' long period of orbit, this translates into a 20-year winter or summer!

Uranus has 27 known satellites and 11 rings.

NEPTUNE

NEPTUNE

Neptune is the most distant gas giant planet. Neptune spins on its axis once every 16 hours, and an orbit around the Sun takes 165 years.

Like Uranus, it has methane in its atmosphere, which gives it its blue hue but it has He and H too. Its temperature ranges from -223° C to >-220° C.

Neptune has the fastest winds in the solar system (2000 kilometers or 1250 miles per hour), and some massive storm systems that move within its atmosphere.

It has 13 known moons and 4 rings.

PLUTO

Pluto is dwarf planet in our solar system and usually is the farthest planet from our Sun. However, Pluto has a fairly odd orbit (highly elliptical) and sometimes is located inside Neptune's orbit.

Pluto rotates on its axis once every 6 days, and its journey around the Sun takes 240 Earth years.

It is a small icy, rocky body, with a single moon, Charon, that is half Pluto's size. Pluto may be a large-sized member of the Kuiper belt.

Kuiper Belt

January 2006: LaunchJuly 2015 :Pluto2016-2020: Kuiper Belt

Kuiper Belt

The Kuiper belt is a disk-shaped region of small, icy planetary bodies that extends beyond Neptune.

These bodies are the "leftovers" from the formation of our early solar system.

Scientists believe that short-period comets, those with orbits less than 200 years, such as Comet Halley, originate in the Kuiper belt.

Planetary DATA

Planet Diameter (Km)

Distance from SUN(million km)

Rotation (Earth Time)

Revolution(Earth Time)

Known Moons

Mercury 4,878 (8th) 57.9 58.67 days 88 days 0

Venus 12,104 (6th) 108.1 243 days 224.7 days 0

Earth 12,756 (5th) 149.6 23.9 hrs 365.25 days= 1 year

1

Mars 6,786 (7th) 227.9 24.6 hrs 1.88 years 2

Jupiter 142,984 (1st)

778.3 9.84 hrs 11.86 years

63

Saturn 120,536 (2nd)

1427.0 10.2 hrs 29.46 years

53

Uranus 51,108 (3rd) 2869.6 17.9 hrs 84.02 years

27

Neptune 49,538 (4th) 4496.6 19.1 hrs 164.8 years

13

Pluto (Dwarf )

2,300 5900.0 6 days 9 hours

247.7 years

1

PLANET DENSITY Gravitational Acceleration

MERCURY 5.427 g/cm3. 0.38 (3.697 meters/sec2)

VENUS 5.243 g/cm3. 0.90 (8.8 m/s2 )

EARTH 5.52 g/cm3 1.00 (9.807 m/s2 )

MARS 3.94 g/cm3 0.38 (3.7 m/s2 )

JUPITER 1.33 g/cm3 2.64 (25.8 m/s2 )

SATURN 0.687 g/cm3 1.14 (11.1 m/s2 )

URANUS 1.27 g/cm3 0.92 (9.0 m/s2 )

NEPTUNE 1.638 g/cm3 1.15 (11.27 m/s2 )

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