The PlanetsOur Solar System

Hailey DuBois

Mercury

Mercury’s atmosphere is made up of oxygen, sodium, helium, and potassium.

Mercury is a rocky planet with a solid cratered surface.

The Romans named Mercury after the messenger of there gods.

There has only been two space crafts that visited Mercury.

Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system, it is the closest planet to the sun so it travels around the sun the fastest. Mercury has no moons.

Venus

Venus is a rocky planet it has a solid surface with volcanoes.

Romans named it after there goddess of love.

Venus’ atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and clouds of sulfuric acid.

More then 40 space crafts have visited the planet Venus.

Venus spins backwards, has no moons and one day on Venus is 243 days on Earth.

Earth

Earth is a solid rocky planet, with mountains, valleys, canyons, plains, and oceans.

Earth got it’s name from the English/ German word for ground.

Earths atmosphere is made up of nitrogen, and oxygen.

Many space crafts study Earth.

Earth’s atmosphere protects us from incoming meteorites, and is the only breathable atmosphere. Earth has one moon.

Mars

Mars has a solid core, polar ice caps, volcanoes, and canyons.

Mars was named after the Roman god of wars.

Mars’ atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide.

Robotic rovers have been sent up to study Mars.

Mars is half the size of Earth but has the same amount of dry land. Mars’ seasons last longer then the seasons on Earth, and Mars shines brighter then other planets.

Jupiter Brown, yellow, and white clouds cover the surface. Jupiter has a big red spot, and thin rings.

It’s the largest most powerful planet so the Greeks named it Zeus, but the Romans named it Jupiter.

Jupiter's atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium.

NASA has sent some space crafts up to study Jupiter.

Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system therefore, it has it’s own magnetic field with it’s own little minie solar system. Jupiter has 62 moons.

Saturn

Saturn is a gas giant which means it is made up of gas, it also has rings that orbit it.

The Romans named it after there god of agriculture.

Saturn's atmosphere is made up of hydrogen and helium.

We have sent up technology that ables Saturn to send back radio waves.

Saturn's largest moon is the size of Mercury. Saturn has seven rings that orbit it, and those rings are made up of ice and water.

Uranus

Uranus has a liquid core consisting of icy materials, and rings.

The Greeks named Uranus after the Greek god of the sky.

Uranus’ atmosphere consists of methane, hydrogen, and helium.

Voyager 2 was the only space craft sent to visit Uranus.

Uranus has two sets of rings, inner and outer. As Uranus orbits the sun it appears to be spinning on its side. The methane in Uranus’ atmosphere gives it it’s bluish tint

Neptune

Neptune is the last of the gas giants, it’s a icy planet and has rings.

The Romans named Neptune after there god of the sea. Neptune’s atmosphere is a mixture of hydrogen, helium, hydrogen sulfide

and methane.

Voyager 2 was sent up to Neptune.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun, so it’s virtually invisible to the naked eye. It takes 162 Earth days for Neptune to orbit the Sun. Neptune has 6 moons.

What is a Planet Today?

It must be an object which independently orbits the Sun

It must have enough mass so that gravity pulls it into orbit

A planet has to dominate the neighborhood around its orbit

Why Is Pluto No Longer A Planet? Because it’s too small and doesn’t dominate it’s

surroundings.