Planets and Solar System
"A planet is a celestial body that revolves around a central star and does not shine by its own light " (Grolier, 1992). The only planetary system that is known to man is our
solar system. It is made up of nine planets which range in size and make-up. The nine major planets in our solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. There are also many other minor planets which are also in
our solar system, but they are unimportant compared to the nine major planets. In this paper I will discuss the planets and how they are each unique.
Mercury which is the planet that is closest to the sun is the first planet I will discuss. Mercury is the smallest of the inner planets. It is speculated that the heat from the sun made it impossible for the gases present to become part of the
planetary formation. The surface of Mercury is extremely hot.
It is approximately 470 degrees celsius on the surface and is thought to be even hotter at the two " hot spots." These " hot spots " are on opposite ends of the equator. It is the heat of the surface that makes it impossible for Mercury to have any type
of atmosphere.
Mercury orbits the sun once every 88 days and has a true rotation period of 58.6 days. " It is the closest planet to the sun and therefore orbits faster than any other planet "
(Thompson/Turk, 542, 1993). It is said that Mercury rotates three times for every two trips around the sun, so that during every alternate perihelon passage the same face points directly at the sun. " Geologically, the most remarkable features of
Mercury are compressional cliffs or faults, just the sort of wrinkles that might form in the crust if the interior of the planet shrank slightly " (Morrison, 74, 1993). It is speculated that it was the solidification of Mercury's metallic core that
caused this global shrinkage. Mercury is also " . . . enriched in metal or depleted of rock " (Morrison, 74, 1993). It is also believed that some of the inner core of Mercury is still in a fluid state.
Scientists also believe that Mercury's surface is made partially of silicate rock. The best way to describe Mercury is, " . . . small, heavily cratered and airless " (Morrison, 71, 1993).
Venus is the second closest planet to the sun and is said to " . . . most closely resemble Earth in size, density, and...
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...n see the planets of most importance are the ones closest to the sun and Earth.
Little is known about the far off planets therefore it is hard to give them full recognition. Much is known about Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
The other three planets are not as well known as these six are.
Whether more planetary systems exist doesn't really matter.
There are still plenty of things we don't understand about our own solar system. Scientists will have their work cut out for them in the future. Each and every planet has distinct differences and that helps show us how truly great God is. The
planets will never fully be understood and will always be a great topic of discussion.
Works Sited
Cattermole, P. (1995). Earth and Other Planets. New York: Oxford University Press.
Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. (1992).
Hunt, G. & Moore, P. (1983). Atlas of the Solar System.
Chicago: Rand Mc Nally & Company.
Morrison, D. (1993). Exploring Planetary Worlds. New York: Scientific American Library.
Thompson, G. & Turk, J. (1993). Earth Science and the Environment. New York: Saunders College Publishing & Harcourt Brace College Publishers.
These players, with the help of Coach Courtney, transformed into selfless team members that went on to show that Manassas football is not dead through determination, character, discipline, and commitment. They show that if you want something bad enough, then you have to do the necessary work to make that happen. Although, this is shown through the perspective of football, it can be applied to anything that one wishes to accomplish in life.
Saturn, one of the four gas planets in the solar system, is no doubt the most mysterious. The puzzling questions about this extraordinary planet has had scientists wondering and researching since it was first discovered. Now that NASA has sent missions to Saturn, we are starting to understand more and more. Saturn is a unique planet because of its magnificent size, its rare atmosphere, and several rings unlike any other planet.
Pluto: A Planet of the Earth? Many issues have arisen from the debate over whether or not Pluto is a planet. Some astronomers say that Pluto should be classified as a “minor planet” due to its size, physical characteristics, and other factors. On the other hand, some astronomers defend Pluto’s planet status, citing several key features. Indeed, most of the problem is that there is no formal definition of a planet.
This liquid water, in combination with a rocky silicate sea floor and radiolytically produce surface oxidants, may provide for a chemically rich ocean that would be considered habitable. While the surface of Europa may contain clues about the composition of an interior ocean, debate still continues about the surface’s chemistry and how exogenous radiation processing and endogenous oceanic emplacement play a role on this moon. One way of understanding Europa is determining if the external composition reflects the internal ocean chemistry. Results from the NIMS (Near Infrared Mapping Spectrograph) instrument on Galileo inferred that the surface of Europa was dominated by hydrated sulfate salts that would be probable in evaporates from an internal ocean. In finding that these spectral signatures are more predominant in what seems to be younger terrains, it strengthens the hypothesis that these are more newly sited evaporates. Further Study of the spectra, however, showed that these same NIMS surface spectra could be explained just as well by a surface dominated by hydrated sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid is a probable outcome of bombardment of a frozen surface by sulfur ions. These sulfur ions are ultimately come from volcanoes located on Io, and then dissociated, ionized, and accelerated by Jupiter’s quickly spinning magnetic field until they hit Europa. Such radiolysis could also clarify the sulfur dioxide and sulfur allotropes seen on the surface of Europa and their favored appearance on the more heavily bombarded trailing hemisphere. The existence of sulfuric acid and other sulfur products appears to be nearly unavoidable, but the salt hypothesis is still convincing (Brown 1).
Within our Solar System lies an abundance of planets, each with their own unique characteristics, including the Terrestrial planets of Venus, Earth, and Mars who vary in many aspects but, most importantly, their atmosphere.
In 1609, Galileo Galilei, using “spyglass” which allowed one to see things closer than they appeared, made an early version of the telescope. With it, he observed the skies in a way no one had before. He discovered the moon isn’t perfectly globular, it has craters, the Sun has sunspots, Venus orbits the Sun (contrary to widespread belief in his time), and then he observed four “stars” around Jupiter (“Our Solar System”). Within days, he realized that these objects were not stars, they were moons. Io, Ganymede, Castillo, and Europa are known as the Galilean Moons or Satellites, collectively. During the 19th century, the first measurable physical studies of these moons became achievable when Simon de Laplace derived the satellite masses from their shared gravitational perturbations and afterward, other workers used a new generation of telescopes to measure the mass of these moons. The data collected showed that the density declined from the inner to the outer satellites. According to Adam Showman, “More recent observations of water ice on the surfaces of the outer three moons led to the inference that the satellite compositions range from mostly silicate rock at Io to 60% silicate rock and 40% volatile ices (by mass) at Ganymede and Callisto” ( 77). The Voyager flybys of Jupiter in 1979 exposed indication of extensive geological activity like Europa's fractured terrains, which probably result from tidal heating and bending...
Unlike the inner terrestrial planets, the Jovian worlds are composed of gas, primarily hydrogen and helium and therefore do not have a solid surface.
...ur wonderful solar system you may ask? Well, thanks to telescopes today like HUBBLE, we can view exoplanets. I am going to tell you about exoplanets.
"Our solar system consists of one star and a few debris," pronounced Carl Sagan. There endures an abundance of differences and similarities between the Inner and Outer planets. Our solar system consists of the Sun in the middle, followed by planets rotating it. The planets which orbit the Sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The Inner planets are completely different from Outer planets and the Outer planets are completely different from Inner planets, however both abide many similarities. The planets in the solar system have a multitude of similarities and differences.
One of the first ways is appearance; in our own solar system, we have varying planets such as gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn, and more terrestrial or rock based planets like Earth or Mars. What makes these large differences is the distance from the sun, in which varies with the planets; the planets that are closer to the sun are more condensed and Earth like from the heat, while the planets that are farther from the sun are more gas like and have ice particles forming in them. So one of the main components that causes the difference between the planets in our solar system is heat from the
The gas giants are a collection of planets in our solar system. As can be told from their name, they are mostly composed of differing mixtures of gases and ices. The gas and ice composition in question varies among the different planets. This mix of gases gives much of the planets an extremely thick atmosphere. At the very center of a gas giant is a core of liquid heavy metals. The gas giants are also called Jovian planets, taken from the largest planet in our solar system: Jupiter. Due to the fact the the majority of a gas giant planet is gas, the planet isn’t very dense and therefore, very large as a result. In fact, all of the gas giants are vastly larger than all of the terrestrial planets. Another common factor of the gas giants are their large amount of moons. The terrestrial planet, Mars, has the largest amount of moons, 2. The amount of moons of Mars is dwarfed in comparison to Saturn’s and Jupiter’s moo...
There are eight planets in the solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune; there is also a dwarf planet Pluto.
Saturn has many interesting characteristics, it interacts with the Sun and its moons, and the missions to Saturn have provided scientists with abundant information. The sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the solar system is Saturn. Saturn displays its stunning rings, making it one of the most interesting planets. Saturn has fifty-three known moons, more than any other planet, and as a result of quite a few missions, countless new facts about Saturn have been discovered and are still being discovered today.
Known as “Earth’s twin”, Venus is very similar to Earth in composition, size, mass, and gravity. However, their temperatures are not so similar. The average temperature on Venus is a toasty 460 degrees Celsius (864 degrees Fahrenheit), as opposed to the cool 14 degrees Celsius (58.3 degrees Fahrenheit) Earth experiences. Needless to say, it would not be an ideal vacation spot. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system, thanks to the runaway greenhouse effect. The atmosphere of Venus is also majorly different from Earth. It is composed of 97% carbon dioxide and 3% sulfuric acid, with an atmospheric pressure that is ninety-two times that of Earth. This pressure would be the same as being in the lowest depths of the ocean on Earth. However, like Earth, Venus is one of the four terrestrial planets, meaning it has a rocky surface, and a surface area of 177.7 million square miles. The gravity, which is 8.87 meters per second is very similar to Earth. Its mass is also very similar, 4.867E24 kilograms, and a density of 5.20 grams per centimeter.
Venus is the second planet from the sun. Venus is the planet with the most volcanos. Surprisingly, scientist have