Presentaci

1
Some facts about the planets in the Solar System
MERCURY
VENUS
EARTH
MARS
JUPITER
SATURN
URANUS
NEPTUNE
Average distance to the Sun (A.U.)
0,39
0,72
1,00
1,52
5,20
9,54
19,18
30,06
Translation period (years)
0,24
0,62
1,00
1,88
11,86
29,46
84,01
164,79
Mass (Earth 1)
0,06
0,82
95,1
14,5
17,2
1,00
0,11
317,8
Radius (Earth 1)
0,38
0,95
1,00
0,53
11,2
9,42
4,10
3,88
Average density (water 1)
5,4
5,2
5,52
3,9
1,3
0,7
1,2
1,7
Rotation period (days)
58,6
--243
1
1,03
0,414
0,426
--0,72
0,671
Known satellites
0
0
1
2
63
47
27
13
Key to the chart

• We refer to terrestrial years.
• The mass of the Earth taken as a reference is
  5.9736 1024 kg.
• The radius of the Earth taken as a reference is
  6,378 km.
• The density of water is 1 g/cm3.
• The asterisk means that the rotation is clockwise.

Activities
Finish
Note To see some characteristics of each planet,
click on its name.
2
Characteristics of Mercury
It is the closest planet to the Sun. If we looked
at the Sun from Mercury, it would appear
two-and-a-half times as big as seen from the
Earth.
Its surface is similar to the Moons, since it is
full of craters and cracks, marks made by the
impacts of meteorites.
As it has no atmosphere light can not be
dispersed, if we were on its surface the sky
would appear black at all times.
This lack of atmosphere is responsible for the
contrasts of temperature on Mercury. When the Sun
heats it, it reaches 425 ?C, and in the areas of
shadow it goes down to 170 ?C.
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3
Characteristics of Venus
It is the brightest object in the sky, after the
Sun and the Moon that is why we call it the
Morning Star or the Evening Star.
It is similar to our planet in size, mass,
density and volume, but it has no oceans. It has
lots of volcanoes, rivers of lava and mountains.
Its dense atmosphere (CO2) causes a significant
greenhouse effect, which increases its surface
temperature up to 480 C that is why there is no
water in liquid form.
It rotates on its axis very slowly, in a
direction opposite to that of all the other
planets, so on Venus the Sun rises in the west
and sets in the east.
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4
Characteristics of the Earth
It is the only planet in the Solar System with
the necessary conditions for the development of
life average temperatures of 15 ºC, liquid water
and an atmosphere with oxygen.
The atmosphere, besides making life possible,
protects us from the impact of meteorites and
from harmful solar radiation.
It rotates on its axis every 24 hours, and it
revolves around the Sun approximately every 365
days this produces day and night and the seasons
respectively.
It has four layers, which provide us with the
natural resources we need.
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5
Characteristics of Mars
It is called the Red Planet owing to its colour.
Its surface looks like some deserts on the Earth,
and it has some spectacular geological
formations, such as the Valles Marineris canyon,
4,000 km long, and the volcano Mount Olympus, 24
km high.
It has a very thin atmosphere made up mainly of
CO2, which freezes alternatively on each of the
poles.
It is believed that in the past there was water
or some other fluid on the surface of Mars.
Its two satellites, Phobos and Deimos, are among
the smallest in the Solar System.
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6
Characteristics of Jupiter
It is the biggest planet in the Solar System it
has more matter than all the other planets put
together, and its volume is one thousand times
the volume of Earth.
It has many satellites, and four of them (Io,
Callisto, Europa and Ganymede) were discovered by
Galilei in 1610.
Its thick atmosphere is complex, and it is made
up of hydrogen (90) and helium (10). It has
clouds and storms, so it shows stripes of
different colours and some spots, such as the
Great Red Spot.
It has rings made out of a rocky material, but
they are less bright than Saturns.
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7
Characteristics of Saturn
Saturn is the only planet with rings visible from
the Earth. Its rings are formed by particles
ranging in size from microscopic to ones as big
as a house.
Its atmosphere is made up of 75 Hydrogen and 25
Helium.
It is the only planet with a density smaller than
that of water. If we could find a sea big enough
to put Saturn in, Saturn would float.
It has many satellites, but Titan is the biggest,
with a diameter of 5,150 km.
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8
Characteristics of Uranus
It is the third largest planet in the Solar
System. Its atmosphere is made up of hydrogen,
methane and other hydrocarbons. From Earth it
seems to be a blue colour because the methane
absorbs its red light.
Its rotation is clockwise and its axis of
rotation is almost parallel to the plane of its
orbit.
Therefore, Uranus is tilted in such a way that
the equator is almost at a right angle to the
trajectory of the orbit.
It has rings, just like the other gas planets,
but they are very faint. Its biggest satellites
are Titania and Oberon, and both have a similar
size (1580 and 1520 km in diameter respectively).
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9
Characteristics of Neptune
It is an outer gas giant and it is the farthest
from the Sun.
Its interior is composed of molten rock, methane
and liquid ammonia, and the exterior consists of
hydrogen, helium, water vapour and methane, which
gives it its blue colour, just like Uranus.
It has the strongest winds of all the planets of
the Solar System in fact around the Great Dark
Spot they reach 2,000 km/h. As is the case with
the rest of the gas planets, it is surrounded by
rings.
It has several natural satellites, and the
biggest is Triton.
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10
Activities
1 Answer the following questions
3 Draw a diagram, including the satellites shown
in the text. 4 Look for information about the
Valles Marineris canyon and the Mount Olympus
volcano. Do both geological formations belong to
the same planet? 5 The Great Red Spot is a storm
greater in size than the diameter of the Earth.
Find out the velocity of the wind that the Great
Red Spot can cause. 6 Sometimes the hottest part
in Uranus is at one of its poles. Why do you
think this is?

1. Which planet is the Morning Star?
2. Which planet is called the Red Planet?
3. Which one has the strongest winds?
4. Which has a density lower than that of water?
5. Where is the Great Red Spot?
6. And the volcano Mount Olympus?
7. Which of them has no atmosphere?

2 Place the planets in order from highest to
lowest according to the following

1. Mass.
2. Density.
3. Size.