The first planet in our solar system, Mercury, is a very rough, jagged planet, complete with many craters and has many large rocks and dust. This dust is very fine, and small, like grains of sand. It has no atmosphere, so intense temperature fluctuations occur from day to night. The temperature ranges goes from 90K to 700K. However, due to much studying, we can concur that this planet is geologically dead, and hasn’t been ‘alive’ for an extended period of time. Also on this planet are no signs of rivers, clouds, storms, or really any type of weather. It can be seen to resemble the moon based off of certain aspects. In 1974, the Mariner 10 got within 10,000 km of Mercury, so we could have better, high-resolution pictures of that planet.
Venus:
…show more content…
The atmospheric pressure is substantially more than that of Earth, totaling up to more than 90 times heavier than Earth’s. Closest to the surface of this planet is carbon dioxide, trapped in a thick layer against the surface. Over this layer are clouds of sulfuric acid, that reflect over 90% of the sunlight that hits the planet, and makes it very difficult for muggles to capture images of the surface. It is definitely one of the brightest objects in our night sky. The climate of this planet is a very heated one. It is the hottest planet in the Milky Way, even though Mercury is much closer to the Sun. One theory states that Venus, at one point, had a climate similar to that of Earth, but greenhouse gas effects impacted the climate permanently. Like Mercury, the temperature of this planet fluctuates greatly, going from -364 to 870 degrees …show more content…
They are named Phobos, which means fear, and Deimos, which means panic, and they are sons of the Ares and Aphrodite. These moons aren’t much more than large rocks that happened to get trapped by Mars’ gravitational force. Both of these moons are irregularly shaped and have many craters. Phobos is bigger, about 28 km long and 20 km wide, and has a 10 km wide crater names Stickney. Deimos is 16 km long by 10 km wide. Its largest crater is 2.3 km in diameter. Both moons have dark surfaces, so they reflect less than 6% of the light they receive and that adds to the difficulty in observing and studying them from Earth. Astronomers estimated the masses of these moons based on measurements of their gravitational effect on Viking orbiters. The Martian moons’ density is around 2000 kg per square meter, which is much less than any other world we have encountered through our
Saturn, along with the other gas giants’ rings are made up of mostly ice and large pieces of rock surrounded by an icy coating. Saturn’s ring system contains billions of ring particles that range in size from dust - size, icy grains to few even as large as mountains. Two of Saturn's tiny moons orbit in the gaps of Saturn's rings. The gaps they orbit inside of are known as Encke and Keeler gaps. These two moons make up the total of fifty - three moons that NASA has discovered and
The atmosphere on Venus is composed of mostly Carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen and sulphuric acid. This composition causes a runaway greenhouse gas effect that makes the planet even hotter than Mercury, despite the fact that Mercury is much closer to the sun. The air on Venus is incredibly dense due to the Nitrogen content, which, whilst admittedly is only a small part of the atmospheric composition, is at least four times the amount on Earth. This Atmospheric composition therefore creates a thick layer of
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, is a rocky planet. The heavily cratered planet suggests that meteors or comets were frequent many, many years ago. Mercury's boulder littered surface and pale gray appearance slightly resembles Earth's moon. Like Mars, Mercury is covered in pulverized dust. What Mercury lacks in this, is weather. Muggle probes bring images to us that show no signs of wind, dust storms, or clouds. No rivers have been found on Mercury. Lack of clouds and rivers, (and oceans) suggests that there is no water on the closest planet to the Sun, Mercury. One of Mercury's most famous craters is Caloris basin, which is 1550 km in diameter. Another of Mercury's most famous craters is called Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff is 306 km in diameter. These two very large craters were created by astroids impacting the planet in Mercury's early history.
Clear almost vacant atmosphere, which makes this planet easier to view, but unable to
Have you ever wondered how the planets got their names? By comparing the characteristics and stories of gods with that of planets, the mystery behind the names of the planets will be unveiled.
Mercury's surface is very rocky and covered in boulders and pulverized dust. The surface is also filled with craters. The planet is a grey color. It is the smallest planet but very dense. The surface of Mercury is very similar to the surface of the moon, but Mercury has more smooth plains. On Mercury you will not find any clouds, dust storms, rivers or any other sign of weather. The planets magnetic field keeps any winds away from it. Mercury has a mainly iron rich core. The planet will always be facing the sun on one side, lighting up half of its surface. The side facing the sun is very hot, while the side not facing the sun gets very cold. There is absolutely no sign of anything living on Mercury, and there has not been any for a long time.
Mercury's surface geology is much like the Moon's. Although, Mercury is a much denser planet and has a much larger liquid iron core. Mercury's surface is also covered in lava plains and impact craters. Some of Mercury's craters are also filled with lava from Mercury's interior. Although only 55% percent of Mercury's surface has been mapped by scientists. Craters can be bowl shaped or huge impact craters. The largest crater on Mercury's surface is called the Caloris Basin. There have been about 15 identified impact craters on Mercury's surface. Similar to the Moon's surface, the largest craters have bright rays of material. The reason these are bright is because they have not been as weathered by other impacts. Mercury's poles have a large deposit of ice water on them. That is why Mercury's surface geology is unique.
Mercury is the smallest planet and is closest to the sun. It's a small, rocky planet that resembles the moon superficially. While the pockmarked surface and rugged terrain suggests a turbulent history, Mercury is no longer geologically active and has not been active for a long time. Mercury has a heavy iron-based core that is proportionally larger than that of any other planet, including Earth. Mercury has a much longer "day" than Earth. For every two Mercury-years, there are only three days. If earth rotated as slowly, each day would last about eight months. This really puts into perspective how slowly the small planet rotates. Despite its slow rotation, its magnetic field has become stronger and more dynamic since its first discovery. There has been a significant change in the geological instant of 35 years.
There are some characteristics that Venus does have on the ground. “More than a thousand volcanoes or volcanic centers larger than 12 miles (20 kilometers) in diameter dot the surface of Venus. Volcanic flows have produced long, sinuous channels extending for hundreds of kilometers.” (Science.NationalGeographic.com para. 8 n.d). The landmass on Venus is potholed by small craters by meteor or comet strikes. “Most of Venus is covered with smooth volcanic plains, with two large "continents" standing out. Ishtar Terra lies to the north, covering an area approximately the size of Australia, while the Africa-sized Aphrodite Terra lies just south of the equator.” (Reed para. 4 2012). Unfortunately not much is known about the surface features, however, we know there are wind swept dunes and volcanoes. The land masses on Venus unlike Earth does not sit on hard rock or water like the continents do on the Earth and Mars; Venus however, is far too hot for water and heavy metals would melt due to the heat. The continents on Venus float on liquid magma. Some scientists theorize that 500 million years ago an incident happened that stopped any kind of plate
The planet Mercury, named after the Roman God of Thievery, has an incredible grey surface, littered with craters. Whilst it may lack an environment, pulverised dust roams across its massive stretches of grey fields, and rocky cavities form the land of mercury, resulting in a lack of any possibility of life, unfortunately. Images taken from powerful telescopes give the resemblance of this planet to Earth's own moon, through the grey colours and rocky formations. From Muggle Space Probes, we know that there have not been any signs of clouds, dust storms, or any form of a source of water, further connecting it to the moon. The Caloris Basin, the largest crater on the planet, stretches for 1,550 kilometres across Mercury's fields of grey;
Jupiter is a giant gas planet in our solar system. Jupiter is 1300 times the size of Earth. Jupiter weights 317.83 times the mass of Earth. (Chown, M.C 2011 Solar System, Touch Press 115-137). Jupiter is only 1.33 times dense than water. Jupiter has a giant red hurricane on its surface which has been active for over 200 years and in more than twice the size of Earth. (Chown, M.C 2011 Solar System, Touch Press 115-137). Jupiter is named after the king of roman god who is also the god of justice. It is a fitting name for the biggest object other than the sun in the solar system. Jupiter’s atmosphere is 96% hydrogen, 3% helium, 0.4% methane, 0.01% ammonia, 0.01% hydrogen Deuteride and 0.0007% ethane. (Chown, M.C 2011 Solar System, Touch Press
Saturn is the most fascinating planet in our Solar System. Saturn was named after the Roman God, Saturn; however in Greek, his name was Cronos, King of the older Gods. Cronos was the father of Zeus and the God of Time and Ages. Saturn, the planet itself, is comprised of liquid and gas. It has 7 rings that are formed from ice, rock, and dust. It is the 6th planet from the sun, which is 885 million miles away. Saturn is surprisingly the 2nd largest planet. It has the capacity of 764 earths or 75,000 miles wide. Saturn has 62 moons; 53 known and 9 provisional. Over time, these moons were named after the older Gods; the first moon Titan. Saturn spins so fast on its axis, that its days are 10 hours long. Saturn is the 2nd largest planet, however
Mercury is an important planet even though it does not have life on it. Mercury is a very interesting and fun planet to learn about. This planet's history, composition, and location makes an interesting planet to learn
Saturn's largest moon is Titan, is a bit bigger than the planet Mercury. Titan is the second largest moon. Saturn has a light orange look with white and gray rings. These rings are made up of ice, rocks, and dust. Saturn's rings are more than 270,000,000 kilometers wide but not even 1 kilometer thick, it also has more than 30 layers of the ring. It is made up of 94% hydrogen, 6% helium. Which means it is mostly gas. Its temperature is around minus 178 degrees Celsius.
Mercury, named after the Roman God of Thievery, Commerce, and Travel, is the first planet from the Sun. It is unique because it shows at both morning rise and evening set of the sun. It is rocky, heavily cratered, covered in boulders, and also pulverized dust. The majority of it's surface bears a strong resemblance to that of Earth's moon. It's lack of atmosphere causes wild temperature fluctuations. Temperatures can range from 90 kelvin to 700 kelvin thus creating a planet, from all observations, that cannot sustain life--it is geologically dead. Mercury also has a magnetic field generated by the planet's core that can deflect solar wind and which has a magnetosphere that changes. This was surprising for such a slow rotating planet--one that rotates completely every 88 Earth days.