Planet : The Planetary System In The Solar System

A planet consists of a solid body that revolves around a star and shines by reflected light. The sun is the only star known to have planets, although certain other stars have companions that may be planets. The sun, nine known major planets, in order of increasing distance from the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The planets are divided into two groups according to their size and structure.

The solar system was created 4.6 billion years ago by a gravitational collapse. A solar system is a star that has planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids travel around it. The solar system contains eight known planets which are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. There is around several hundred dwarf plants but only five are currently recognized. The solar system has about 181 moons which orbit around the planets in the solar system. There is also about 150 million asteroids and 3,406 comets also in the solar system.

The name of our planet in Roman Mythology is the Roman god of commerce, travel, and thievery. Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, it rotates around the sun faster than any other planet in our solar system. It takes 1407.5 hours for it to rotate on its axis. Mercury is the smallest and innermost planet in our solar system. The radius of Mercury is 1,516 mi. Mercury’s mass is 3.285 times 10^23 kg. Mercury takes 88 days to rotate the sun completely. Mercury’s distance from the sun is 35.98 million mi. Mercury’s equatorial rotation velocity is 10.892 km/h (3.026 m/s). Since Mercury is closest to the sun the surface temperatures can be scorching hot and it can reach 840 degrees Fahrenheit (450 degrees Celsius). Mercury also doesn’t have a real atmosphere to entrap all that heat.

It is believed that only 55% of Mercury has been mapped, however, that 55% has yielded a number of interesting finds, there are three significant geological features on Mercury, these are: smooth plains, intercrater plains and rugged highlands. The smooth plains resemble Lunar Maria, that is, large dark basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic eruption, found on the Earth’s moon. The Intercrater Plains are impact craters, pocked with a number of smaller craters, which cover 70% of the examined surface. These craters are particularly deep, due to the planets lack of an atmosphere to slow the bodies before impact. The rugged highlands resemble mountainous regions of the Earth; however, there is no evidence of tectonic motions to have caused them. Mercury is made up of predominately iron, its crust is only 500-600km thick and there is evidence of volcanic activity, although it is believed that the planet has been geologically dormant for billions of years.

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

The air is not breathable by humans! Venus's atmosphere also contains traces of extra compounds and elements, such as neon, argon, carbon monoxide, and helium. Atmospheric pressure is over 90 times heavier than that of Earth; sheer crushing power. Clouds of sulfuric acid lay above a layer of carbon dioxide near the crust. These sulfuric clouds block most Muggle attempts to see Venus. On Venus, the climate changes all the time, from an extremely cold temperature to an extremely hot one. The temperature ranges from -364 to 870 degrees Fahrenheit. Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System, and yet it is Mercury that is the closest planet to the Sun, Venus being second in

Years and years ago, there were only eight known planets that orbit our sun; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Eight planets until that fateful day when Clyde W. Tombaugh discovered our ninth planet. Although, a little credit should be given to Percival Lowell,

Venus' atmosphere is made up of mostly carbon dioxide and some nitrogen. There are also traces of carbon monoxide, argon, helium and neon on the planet. All of these elements make Venus' atmospheric pressure more then 90 percent heavier then the Earth. Closest to the surface is a layer of carbon dioxide, which is covered by a layer of clouds which makes it hard to make out the planet.

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.

However, it turns out that Mars is much more hospitable to life on its surface than Venus. Due to its runaway greenhouse effect, our sister planet is the hottest planet in our solar system. Temperatures on the Venusian surface can reach smoldering temperatures of nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit, hot

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.

Venus is the 2nd planet from the Sun. Venus' reflective nature and close proximity to Earth are major factors in it's being one of the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and Earth's moon. It is often referred to as

Mercury is the closets planet to the Sun. Mercury is the fastest out of all the planets and completes its rotation in just 88 days. Mercury barely has an atmosphere. It is the second hottest planet. The density of Mercury is almost equal to the Earth. Mercury is 4,879 Kilometer. It does not have any moons. Mercury is also the smallest planet in the solar system. Venus is the third brightest object in the sky. It is also the hottest planet. Venus is the closets planet to Earth. Venus has a similar average density, mass, size, and surface gravity as the Earth. Venus is named after the Roman goddess of beauty. Venus is 12,104 km and its atmosphere is 96 percent Carbon Dioxide. It takes Venus 225 (Earth) days to orbit the Sun. Earth is the third planet from the Sun. It is also the largest of the terrestrial planets. The Earth is believed to be formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago. Earth has one moon. It takes the Earth 365 days to orbit. The Earth was once thought to be the center of the universe. The Earth is unique because it is the only planet that can support life. The Earth is spherical. The earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees. Mars is best known for being the Red planet. This planet is named after the God of war. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Its atmosphere is 95 percent carbon dioxide. Mars takes 678 (Earth) days to revolve around the sun. Mars diameter is 6,792 km. Mars has two moons, which are Phobos and Deimos. Mars has

It is called this because it closely resembles the Earth's mass, density and diameter. The only thing different is that Venus " is shrouded in thick clouds that completely hide the surface of the planet " (Grolier, 1992). The surface temperature is also much warmer than that of Earth.

Venus: Venus takes first place when it comes to the hottest planet. Venus is substantially hot with an atmosphere that is toxic. The diameter is 7,521 miles (12,104km), it orbits 225 earth days and its full day lasts 241 earth days.