Earth Science Ch. 23Touring our Solar

System

23.1 The Solar System• The planets of our solar

system fit into 2 main categories:

• Terrestrial Planets -

• small and rocky (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars)

• Jovian Planets-

• huge gas giants (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune)

23.1 The Solar System• Size is the most obvious difference between Terrestrial and

Jovian

• Other major differences include: Density, chemical makeup, rate of rotation

23.1 The Solar System

• The planets are made of 3 main type of materials:

• Gases - mainly hydrogen and helium

• Rocks - mainly silicate minerals and metallic iron

• Ices - including ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O)

23.1 The Solar System

• Atmospheres of the Planets:

• The Jovian planets have very thick atmospheres

• The Terrestrial planets have very thin atmosphere in comparison

• A planet’s mass and temperature will determine if it can hold on to an atmosphere