MERCURY

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M E R C U R Y
ariner 10 took pictures of Mercury in 1974 it is
the only spacecraft to visit the
planet. xcluding Pluto, it is the smallest
planet. Including Pluto, Mercury is the second
smallest planet. eceived its name from the
Roman god of commerce, travel, and
thievery. losest planet to the sun NO moons
(natural satellites). nchanged for billions of
years rocky world with almost no atmosphere no
weather evolves around the sun faster than any
other planet (1.5 Mercurian days). ou rarely
get a good look at Mercury due to the blinding
light of the sun!
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V E N U S
enus spins in a clockwise direction known as
retrograde rotation. arths TWIN same
diameter, mass, and density as Earth
(approximately). NO MOONS! amed for the
Roman goddess of beauty and love. ppermost
layer of clouds contains sulfuric
acid. urface temperature highest in the solar
system due to the GREENHOUSE EFFECT.
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E A R T H
arth has ONE moon sometimes called
Luna. pproximately 71 of the
surface is covered in water warm enough to keep
most water from freezing. otates every 24
hours revolves every 365.24 days. he
constantly changing weather patterns create the
swirl of clouds that surrounds the blue and brown
sphere. as life only planet currently known to
have life.
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M A R S
artian soil similar to Earths except for iron
oxide (rust) Olympus Mons is the largest
mountain in the solar system. lthough
liquid water cannot exist on the surface, there
is strong evidence that it existed there in the
past. Water is frozen in the icecaps. oman
god of war is Mars the rusty
planet. pacecrafts Viking 1 and 2
gathered information in 1976 has TWO moons
Phobos and Deimos.
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J U P I T E R
upiter has dozens of moons the four largest
include Ganymede, Callisto, Io, and
Europa. nusual magnetosphere stretches for
millions of kilometers beyond planet. rimarily
made of hydrogen and helium, but no nuclear
fusion. If Jupiter had grown larger during the
formation of the solar system, a star might have
formed. t was first visited by the Pioneer
spacecraft Voyager 1 and 2 sent back images
reveling faint, thin rings. wice as massive
than all of the other planets combined. mits
much more heat energy than it receives from the
sun. ed spot (Great Red Spot GRS) a 400-year
old storm system about 3 times the diameter of
Earth.
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S A T U R N
econd largest planet known as the jewel of the
solar system dozens of moons Saturns largest
moon is Titan. round the end of June 2004,
the Cassini spacecraft entered Saturns orbit to
study its rings, moons, and atmosphere. he
least dense planet its density is less than
water (Saturn would float). nlike Earth (?),
Saturn has a poisonous atmosphere. INGS the
most striking feature - made of icy
materials. amed for the Roman god of agriculture.
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U R A N U S
ranus appears blue-green because hydrogen and
methane gas absorb the red part of
sunlight. otates on its side (tilted by almost
90º). lmost twice as far from the sun as
Saturn amed for the father of Saturn in Roman
mythology ranus was discovered by English
amateur astronomer William Herschel in
1781. everal moons common moons include
Miranda and Ariel.
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N E P T U N E
amed for the Roman god of the sea blue color
has the same size, mass, and temperature as
Uranus. xtremely large Great Dark Spot about
the same size as Earth. lutos orbit is so
eccentric it sometimes crosses the orbit of
Neptune making Neptune the farthest planet from
the sun. he irregularities in the orbit of
Uranus suggested that there must be another
planet beyond it Neptune! The mathematicians
planet. ranus and Neptune are called the TWIN
GIANTS. eptunes moon, Triton, is the
fourth largest in the solar system. normous
cloud of methane gas floats in the atmosphere.
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P L U T O
ossibly an escaped moon of Neptune Pluto is
smaller than SEVEN of the solar systems
moons east massive and smallest planet (?)
in the solar system Pluto is the god of the
underworld in Roman mythology. ntil 8/24/2006,
Pluto was an official planet it is now
classified as a dwarf planet because of its
size. he double planet Plutos moon Charon
is half the size of the planet. ccasionally,
Plutos orbit crosses the path of Neptunes orbit
- making Pluto the eighth planet of the solar
system Pluto has not been visited by a
spacecraft.
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