2. The Planets
Do you know a saying to remember the planets in
order?
My Very Eager Mother Just Severed Us Nine Pizzas
Do you know the planets in order?
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto (dwarf planet)
6. Inner Planets
Characteristics of the inner planets:
“Terrestrial Planets”
Rocky
Dense (about five times denser than water)
Metal cores (iron)
Thin atmosphere
The inner planets:
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
7. Mercury
Inner most planet
Terrestrial planet
“Iron Dwarf” for having a large iron
core and being only 38% the size
of Earth
Thin Atmosphere: Some
Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen
Composition: Iron Core, Silicate
Surface
Iron core is about the size of
Earth’s moon
Hundreds of craters
Sunlight Strength: 450-1040%
of Earth’s
Highest and lowest surface
temps: 427°C to -173 °C
8. Venus
Second planet from the Sun
Terrestrial planet
“Sister Planet” roughly the same size
and mass as Earth’s
Thick Atmosphere: 96% Carbon
Dioxide
Surface pressure 92 times
greater than Earth’s
Clouds made of sulfuric acid
Composition: Nickel-iron Core,
Silicate mantle, rocky crust
Lots of volcanic features, but not
active.
Sunlight Strength: 190% (cloud
tops), 5% (surface) of Earth’s
Surface Temp: 464° C
9. Earth
Third planet from the Sun
Terrestrial planet
200km Thick Atmosphere:
78% Nitrogen, 21%
Oxygen, 1% argon
Composition: Nickel-iron
Core (inner core: solid &
outer core: liquid), Olivine
mantle (composed from
oxygen, magnesium and
silicon), rocky crust
One moon
10. Mars
Fourth planet from the Sun
Terrestrial planet
“Red Dwarf”
Once covered with water
Surface Pressure: 0.007 equivalent to the
cruising altitude of a plane
Atmosphere: 95% Carbon Dioxide, 2.7%
Nitrogen, 1.6% Argon, and 0.7% other
gases
Composition: Iron and iron sulfide core,
olivine and iron oxide mantle, rocky crust
Craters in the south, volcanic features in
the north
Lack of craters in the north suggest a much younger
region covered by lava flows.
Sunlight Strength: 36-52% of Earth’s
Surface Temp: -50°C to -123° C
11. The Outer Planets
Characteristics of the outer planets:
“Jovian Planets”
Composed of mostly gases and ices
No solid surface
May have a solid core
Most have rings
Thick Tumultuous atmospheres - rapid winds, large storms
The outer planets:
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto (dwarf planet)
12. Jupiter
Fifth planet from the Sun
Jovian planet
“Goliath planet”
Five main rings
Atmosphere: 90% Hydrogen and 10%
Helium
Three separate clouds layers of ammonia
ice, ammonium hydrosulfide ice, and water
ice.
The atmosphere blends seamlessly with the
outer core.
Composition: Liquid molecular hydrogen
and helium outer mantle, liquid metallic
hydrogen inner mantle, and ice and rock
core
Core pressure is about 100 million atmospheres
A very powerful magnetic field that extends
all the way to Saturn’s Orbit.
Sunlight Strength: 3-4% of Earth’s
13. Saturn
Sixth planet from the Sun
Jovian planet
“Ringed Giant”
Seven main rings
Atmosphere: 96% Hydrogen and 4%
Helium
Clouds on Saturn the same as
Jupiter’s but can twice a deep as
Jupiter’s.
Composition: Liquid hydrogen (outer
mantle), Liquid metallic hydrogen
(inner mantle), ice (outer core) and
rock (inner core)
Most oblate planet with visible
bulges at the equator
Sunlight strength: 1% of Earth’s
Powerful magnetic field (600 times
14. Uranus
Seventh planet from the Sun
Jovian planet
“Blue Giant”
Eleven thin rings
Atmosphere: 83% Hydrogen, 15% Helium and
2% Methane
Only one cloud layer of methane has been
detected. Below this layer it is believed to
have clouds similar to Saturn and Jupiter
Composition: Liquid hydrogen and other
elements (outer mantle), slushy layer of icy
compounds of water, methane, and ammonia
(inner mantle), and an icy & rocky (core)
Red light is absorbed by methane, which is
why this planet is blue-green in color
Sunlight strength: 1% of Earth’s
Powerful magnetic field (50 times that of
Earth’s)
Axial inclination of 97.8° (sideways compared to
other planets)
15. Neptune
Eighth planet from the Sun
Jovian planet
“Blue Colossus”
Five main rings
Atmosphere: 79% Hydrogen, 18% Helium
and 3% Methane
Dynamic atmosphere with a main clouds of
methane ice crystals.
Composition: Hydrogen and other elements
mixed into an icy liquid (outer mantle),
slushy mixture rich in water, methane, and
ammonia (inner mantle), and an icy & rocky
(core)
Orbit is almost perfectly circular
Sunlight strength: 0.1% of Earth’s
Visually the sun would be 900 times fainter
than how we see it on Earth
Axial inclination of 97.8° (sideways compared
to other planets)
16. Poor Pluto
What have you heard about Pluto?
Why is it different than the other planets?
Why is it now technically not a planet?
17. Pluto
Little is know, but best guess is
that 70% of the planet is rock and
ice makes up the other 30% of the
planet.
The picture to the right is the
highest resolution picture of Pluto
known at this time.
67% of the diameter of the moon.
Elongated and inclined orbit
different than the other planets
Member of the Kuiper Belt
Kuiper belt is a belt of icy planet
building leftovers
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft
launched in early 2006 is
expected to reach Pluto in 2015.