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Mercury As far as planets go, this one doesn't have a very clear complexion. It’s riddled with craters. Mercury was discovered in 1631 by a man named Pierre Gassendi as it passed by the moon. Mercury’s atmosphere is made up of atoms that came from the planets’ surface. As the planet cooled and hardened from it’s magma like core, it shrank from it’s original size, to the size it is now. We've done several flybys on mercury and have attained new information each time via a satellite called The Messenger. Mercury make a full orbit every 88 days. Mercury travels 31 MPH. That’s faster than any other planet. Mercury has permanent ice, despite the hot temperatures. It’s hidden in the deep craters of mercury’s surface.
Venus Venus is a planet riddled with volcanoes and jagged mountains. Venus became a great study of the Mayan culture as they used the planet to make a calendar. Venus’ atmosphere is made of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. Sounds delicious. (not really). The ground seems like a desert wasteland being scorched by 800 degree heat. In the 1990’s we were able to map most of the planet by sending up a satellite called the Magellan. A day on Venus is 117 earth days long. If you weighed 100 pounds on earth you would weigh 91 pounds on Venus. Venus is hot enough to melt lead.
Earth Good ol’ earth. There’s no other planet I’d rather be on. You name it earth’s got it.Mountains, oceans, craters, and even volcanoes. Earth’s name is the only one that’s not roman or Greek. It’s English/ German for the word ground. In 1960 we launched the first weather satellite. Our planet is made up of earth, water, ice, magma, and other basic elements that work together to make up earth. The earth’s atmosphere is mainly made of nitrogen and oxygen. From all the satellites we have sent up, we have been able to map all of the planet. Of course, we’ll have to do it all again next year when it changes.
Mars Mars is a cold dessert world with similar features to earth such as polar ice caps and canyons. In 1965 a satellite took 22 pictures of mars. Those were the first pictures of a planet beyond earth. Mars is made partly of magnetized red dirt which flies into the air and creates things like dust storms. People used to think that there was vegetation on mars but after the pictures were taken, photos revealed a dessert plant with not a green thing to be seen. Mars is half the diameter of earth. 1 mars year is 1.9 earth years. Mars travels at 53,858 miles per hour.
Jupiter Jupiter is most famous for it’s big, red, raging spot. In 1610 Galileo made the first observations of Jupiter. Jupiter has story weather to say the least. The gascious air is made of ammonia and the big red spot is a storm that hasn't let up for more that 20 years.In 1979 our Voyagers discovered the rings around Jupiter. Jupiter is the biggest planet of our solar system. One Jupiter day is only 9 earth hours. Jupiter travels 29,205 miles per hour. If you weighed 100 pounds on earth you would weigh 253 pounds on Jupiter.
Saturn The biggest feature of Saturn is it famous rings. Formed of ice, meteorite, and dust these rings are thought to be the remnants of one of Saturn's moons. In 1610 Saturn’s moons were discovered by our friend Galileo. Saturn is an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. The core is made of highly compressed liquid. In 1979 we sent the first satellite to Saturn to take photographs and got our first impression of the gassy giant. If you weigh 100 pounds on earth then you would weigh 107 pounds on Saturn. The length of a Saturn day is 10.6 hours. Saturn is the biggest planet in our solar system.
Uranus Uranus is another gacious planet that doesn't really have any geography. In 1781 Uranus was the first planet to be discovered with the use of a telescope. The atmosphere is mainly made up of hydrogen and helium with a little bit of methane thrown in. In 1977 we did a flyby of Uranus only to discover one of the many moons of Uranus. If you weigh 100 pounds on earth you would weigh 91 pounds on Uranus. One Uranus day is 17 hours. One Uranus year is 30, 687 earth days
Neptune Neptune is the last of the gas planets in our solar system. In 1864 Neptune is discovered. Neptune is a planet with a solid core covered in water and ice. In 1989 we did our first and only flyby of Neptune near the north pole of the planet. If you weigh 100 pounds on earth then you would weigh 114 pounds on Neptune. 16 hours is one Neptune day. 60,190 earth days is a Neptune year.
How to become a planet. • A planet is any object in orbit around the Sun with a diameter greater than 2000 km. • A planet is any object in orbit around the Sun whose shape is stable due to its own gravity. • A planet is any object in orbit around the Sun that is dominant in its immediate neighborhood. • Why was Pluto demoted? Because it was not the dominant structure in it’s neighborhood. There were far bigger structures
