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0. General Charateristics
- Planets orbit the Sun
- Do not produce their own energy
- Reflect light from the Sun
- Appear in our sky as tiny disks of light
- Two main kinds of planets
- Some planets have moons
1. Mercury
- Closest to the Sun
- Small and barren
- Several thousand impact craters, much like
the Moon
2. Venus
- Brightest object in our night sky other than
the Sun and Moon
- Similar in size to Earth
- Dense carbon dioxide atmosphere
- Hottest planetary surface
3. Earth
- Only planet capable of sustaining life
- Formed 4.6 billion years ago
- Atmosphere
- A dynamic planet
- Biological diversity
4. Mars
- Closest planet to Earth
- Several characteristics similar to Earth
- Two moons
- Huge dust storms
- Large amounts of frozen water on surface
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5. Jupiter
- Largest planet
- 11 times bigger than Earth
- 2.5 times the mass of all other planets
combined
- No solid surface
- Hydrogen and Helium gases
- Many moons including four Galilean
- Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto
6. Saturn
- Second largest planet
- Best known for its ring system
- No solid surface
- Hydrogen and Helium gases
- Extremely low density
- Over 30 known moons
7. Uranus
- Four times the size of Earth
- No solid surface
- Hydrogen and Helium gases
- Axis of rotation tilted 98o from
vertical
- Ring structure
- 21 known moons
8. Neptune
- Discovered after mathematical predictions
- Upper atmosphere of methane gas
- Great dark spot
- 15 known moons
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