The Eight Planets in Our Solar System
A planet is a celestial body that orbits around a star, Our Solar System has eight planets which orbit the sun.
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Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun but, perhaps surprisingly, it does not have the highest temperatures. It is the second densest planet of the Solar System, but also the smallest planet. The structure of Mercury makes it the most similar planet to Earth.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun at a distance of 57.91 million kilometers / 35.98 miles or 0.4 AU away. It takes sunlight 3.2 minutes to travel from the Sun to Mercury.
TEMPERATURE
Temperatures on the surface of Mercury are both hot and cold. During the day, temperatures on the surface can reach up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit / 430 degrees Celsius. Because the planet has no atmosphere to retain that heat, nighttime temperatures on the surface can drop to -290 degrees Fahrenheit / -180 degrees Celsius.
ATMOSPHERE
Mercury does not have an atmosphere, but it does have an exosphere which is made up of oxygen, sodium, hydrogen, helium and potassium that are all whipped up from the planet’s surface by the solar winds.
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Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the sixth-largest. Together with Mercury, they are the only planets without a satellite, even though Mercury is closer to the sun, Venus is the hottest planet.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun, at a distance of 108.2 million km/ 67.24 mi or 0.7 AU receiving the sun’s light in 6 minutes.
TEMPERATURE
Venus has a very hot surface which results to it’s high temperature. It’s temperature have an average of 465° Celsius and a 900 degrees Fahrenheit.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide 96.5% and 3.5% nitrogen with traces of other gases, most notably sulfur dioxide. Venus has thick clouds mainly composed of sulfuric acid droplets, around 75-96%.
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the fifth largest planet in the Solar System with the highest density. It is currently the only known location where life exist.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, at a distance of 1 AU or 147 million km / 91 million mi. It is situated in the goldilocks zone where temperatures are just right for liquid water to exist and for life to evolve.
TEMPERATURE
The highest temperatures on Earth can reach up to more than 110 degrees Fahrenheit / 48 degrees Celsius, and the lowest around -126 degrees Fahrenheit / -88 degrees Celsius.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere of Earth is composed of roughly 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.97% argon and carbon dioxide and about 0.04% other gases and water vapor. The mixture of gases is commonly known as air, and it is divided into 6 layers, which are: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere, and ionosphere.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war for its reddish color.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Mars is 227.9 million kilometers / 141.6 million miles away from the Sun. Light from the Sun reaches Mars in about 13 minutes.
TEMPERATURE
The average temperatures on Mars is -80 degrees Fahrenheit / -60 degrees Celsius.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere on Mars is thin, mostly comprised of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon gases.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest and oldest planet in the solar system, with a mass more than twice that of all the other planets combined.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
It’s the fifth most distant from the Sun at an average distance of 5.2 AU, its closest approach is at 4.9 AU and at its farthest 5.4 AU.
TEMPERATURE
The temperature on Jupiter’s “surface” is -110°C (-160°F). The interior of Jupiter, however, is very hot. The temperature gradually increases as you dive deeper and deeper into the atmosphere.
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere is very thick, and it is made out of ammonia, sulfur, methane, and water vapor.
Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet in our solar system, but it is also the lightest, as it is mostly made of gas.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Saturn is 9.6 AU distance away from the Sun
TEMPERATURE
The temperature of Saturn’s upper atmosphere is on average about -175C (-285F), quite cold for a gas giant, while below the clouds it gets considerably hotter.
ATMOSPHERE
It’s atmosphere is composed of ammonia – yellow, ammonia hydrosulfide – orange, and water – white – influence the planet’s colorful appearance of a brownish-yellow.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, but it was the first one discovered by a telescope in 1781 by William Herschel, who thought it was a star or a comet.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
its average distance from the sun still remains about 20 AU or 2 billion kilometers – 2 billion miles.
TEMPERATURE
Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system. The lowest temperature observed is -370 degrees F. The highest temperature observed is 116 degrees F. Due to the cold temperatures seen on Uranus, most of the matter is icy in nature.
ATMOSPHERE
Its atmosphere is mostly consistent in molecular hydrogen, helium, methane, ammonia, water, hydrogen sulfide, various hydrocarbons and water vapor, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide possibly due to an external source such as in falling dust and comets.
Neptune
Neptune is the most distant and the smallest gas giant in our solar system, with a faint blue-green color and six rings.
DISTANCE TO THE SUN
Neptune has an average distance of 2.8 billion miles/4.5 billion kilometers or 30 AU away from the Sun, being the furthest of the eight planets.
TEMPERATURE
It has an average temperature of -214 degrees Celsius;-353 degrees Fahrenheit
ATMOSPHERE
The atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen, helium and methane.
SUMMARY
This presentation is centered on the structure of the eight planets (formally the nine planets) in the Solar System. The Planets(In other of increasing distance to the sun) which are : Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune are the recognized planets that orbits around the sun.
These planets are grouped into two types which are Terrestrial planets and the Jovian planets.
The Terrestrial planets are Earthlike planets made up of rocks or metals with a hard surface. Terrestrial planets also have a molten heavy-metal core, few moons and topological features such as valleys, volcanoes and craters. These Planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
The Jovian Planets also known as the big Gases are; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These Jovian Planets are those with no hard surfaces. The surface of these Jovian planets are mostly composed of the mixture of gases and chemicals. Some of these Jovian planets has rings around it and some even has many moons orbiting round the planets.
