Earth And The Solar System

There are many differences among our planets and moons in our Solar System. The geologic activity, composition, interior structure, magnetic field, and atmosphere are all factors that help give these planets and moons there identity. We have sent probes over the years to help examine these properties.

Mars’ crust is thicker than Earth’s and is made up of one piece, unlike Earth’s crust which consists of several moving plates.b

One of these terrestrial planets, Mercury is the topic of the next section. Mercury, one of the smallest planets, has a surface similar to that of a moon because it is cratered with some smoother areas. However, it is distinct from the moon in that the plains are the same color as the cratered areas. Mercury

Telescopes have not yet revealed the planet's disk. To estimate how big it is, the astronomers must rely

Once considered the last planet in our Solar System, it was declassified in 2006 and is now said to be located in the Kuiper Belt. Pluto failed the third section of the planet test: the planet must have cleared the neighbourhood of its orbit of all other celestial objects. It was named after the Roman god of the Underworld, and has 5 moons. The largest, Chiron, is sometimes considered to be a twin planet to Pluto, since they are so similar in size and Chiron always faces Pluto the same way, much like our Moon does the Earth. The other moons, Nix, Hydra, Styx, and Kerberos, orbit at a greater distance, and are considered true moons. Pluto also has an elliptical orbit, and sometimes passes in front of Neptune so that it is closer to the Sun than the farthest planet of our galaxy.

Mars has an atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon. It is similar in composition to Venus' atmosphere, but it does

There are four gas giants, Neptune and Uranus included. Gas giants are made up of a dense, rocky core with far extended atmospheres. Neptune's center is thick and compressed, with a more shallow atmosphere; resulting in a smaller diameter. Because of its heavy core, the planet has a much larger mass, even though other gas giants may have a greater circumference. Uranus's atmosphere is much more extensive than Neptune's. The gas giants are measured from the furthest point of their atmosphere. Aside from the large diameter, Uranus's core is smaller in size, resulting in a smaller mass.

We learned that in 4th grade. We went more in depth with that this year. There are two types of Crust; oceanic and continental. Oceanic is thinner and is mostly made of out basalt. Continental crust is mostly made out of granite. This layer drifts slowly and is solid. The Earth has sub-layers. The lithosphere is part of the crust and uppermost Mantle. Next down is the Asthenosphere, where all the tectonic plates are. Then the lowest part of the Mantle is called the Mesosphere. The Mantle is semi-solid and has convection currents that move the tectonic plates. It contains more iron than the layer above. The outer core has convection currents that create the magnetic field. It’s the swirly hot iron that really causes it. This is the only layer that is liquid. The inner core is solid because of the great pressure on it. It is extremely hot. The deeper you go the hotter it gets and iron increases. Two out of the four main layers have convection

Jupiter is composed of mostly helium and hydrogen, much like the Sun. Jupiter is said to have formed 4.5 billion years ago. It formed when gravity pulled together dust and the remnants of the formation of the Sun. Jupiter has a metallic/molecular hydrogen core.

Neptune has a planetary ring system, consists of ice particles coated with silicates or carbon based material. There are five rings. The three main rings are Adams Ring, Le Verrier Ring, and Galle Ring,

Neptune is one of the gas giants. It’s composed mainly of hydrogen and some helium. However,

Terrestrial planets are closer to the sun than Jovian and Dwarf planets. Another difference is the surfaces of the planets. Terrestrial and Dwarf planets are rocky and and solid and Jovian planets have a gaseous surface. Comparing sizes, the Jovian planets are the largest, then Terrestrial planets, then Dwarf planets. The atmosphere of terrestrial planets are mostly carbon dioxide, Jovian planets consist of nitrogen, hydrogen, and helium, and Dwarf planets have little to no atmosphere. Dwarf planets are different than Terrestrial and Jovian planets because they lack certain criteria to make them an actual planet, such as needing to orbit a sun and a enough mass to have a some-what spherical shape. The Terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus,

Jupiter has a dense core with a mixture of elements, a surrounding layer of liquid metallic hydrogen with some helium, and an outer layer predominantly of molecular hydrogen

By studying how the core develops and changes the seismic actives from one side to another we have been able to find the Iron core the Earth has. Most other terrestrial planets have a similar core structure but what about Jovian Planets? These are thought to have a liquid metallic hydrogen cores. These cores are similar to Iron ones in the development of the magnetic fields it is created. The reason these planets has a liquid hydrogen core is because of how far they are away from the sun.

elements make it up, as well as the orbital period and temperature to maybe find a planet