Planet Characteristics

1
Planet Characteristics
What do we know about the planets in our solar
system?
2
What are the terrestrial planets?
The terrestrial (rocky) planets are Mercury,
Venus, Earth and Mars.
3
What types of properties do terrestrial planets
have?

• The terrestrial planets are close to the sun
• They are mostly solid.
• They have relatively small diameters
• They have high densities.
• They have few or no moons and no rings.

4
What are the Jovian planets?

• The Jovian (gaseous) planets are Jupiter,
  Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

5
What types of properties do Jovian Planets have?

• The Jovian Planets are far from the sun
• They are largely gaseous
• They have large diameters
• They have low densities
• They have no solid surface but may have a solid
  core.
• They have many moons and have rings.

6
Why do you think these two types of planets
differ?

• They two types of planets differ because of the
  distance to the sun. During the creation of our
  solar system, higher temperatures and pressures
  from the sun drove less dense elements and
  compounds away from the inner solar system.