Transcript The Inner Planets

Small,
have rocky surfaces
Terrestrial Planets: meaning
earth
closest
to the Sun
Interior is made up of iron and
nickel metals
So close to the sun that people
can’t get a good view of it.
Only half of Mercury has been
photographed
Many flat plains and craters
Thin/No
atmosphere
Gases where once heated so
much they moved so fast they
escaped Mercury’s atmosphere
Greatest range of temperature
of all planets
 Nearest
planet to sun
 Our moon and Mercury’s surface look
alike (craters)
 No atmosphere
 No moons
 Revolves around sun with same side
always facing sun
 Greatest range of temperature
 (662°F=day,
-274°F=night)
 Earth’s
twin (similar in size)
 If you see a bright object in the west
after sunset it is most likely Venus
 Venus’s Rotation
 Takes 7.5 Earth months to revolve
around sun
 8 months to rotate on axis
 Day is longer than Year
 Rotates east to west (clockwise)
unlike most planets
 Retrograde rotation: moving
backward
 Atmosphere
so thick it is always
cloudy
 No sunny days
 If you stood on Venus you would be
crushed. Atmosphere is so strong
 Greenhouse Effect: trapping of heat
by atmosphere
19
spacecraft have visited
1st only last 23 minutes before it
was destroyed
Rocky areas, volcanoes with lava
flows, craters, strange domes
 Second
planet from sun
 Spins slowly backwards as it orbits
 Atmosphere made mostly of carbon
dioxide
 Hottest planet (860°F)
 Surface: craters, mountains,
volcanic lava flows.
 No moons
 Day is longer than year
 3rd
planet from the sun
 70% water, 30% land
 1 moon
 Conditions necessary for life
 Has volcanoes and earthquakes
 Three layers



Crust: solid rocky surface
Mantle: hot molten rock
Core: inner solid, outer liquid
 Red
planet: looks slightly red in the sky
 You could walk on Mars but would need
airtight suit and oxygen tank
 Frozen ice at each pole
 Has season’s just like Earth
 Giant
volcanoes but probably not
active
 Red rock from rusty dust
 No oceans or water now
 Was water millions of years ago
Has
two moon’s
Phobos: 27 km in diameter
(distance car travels on
highway in 15 minutes
Deimos: 15 km
Covered with craters
 4th
planet from sun
 Rust causes surface to have a red glow
 Polar ice caps at each pole
 Two small moons (covered in craters)
 Thin atmosphere
 Huge dust storms cover surface at times
 Has seasons
 Volcanoes
 No water now
 Day=25 hours
 Year=686 days