Earth Science

Planets
Two categories of planets:
1. Terrestrial planet- also known as the inner planet
Theyre called inner planets due to nearest to the sun
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars are the terrestrial planets
Terrestrial planets are usually made in basalt or rocky materials
Gases present in the planets are usually carbon dioxide, oxygen,
nitrogen.

2. Jovian planets- known as outer or giant planets

Theyre called outer planets due to far distance from the sun
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the Jovian planets
They are usually made of gases like hydrogen, helium, methane and
ammonia that are deadly gases

Dwarf planet- Pluto belongs in this category .Pluto is not classified as Jovian planet
because its size and distance from the sun made him disqualified as a major planet.
Other than that, there are dwarf planets that were discovered- Eris and Ceres are the
other dwarf planets beside Pluto.

Mercury- The smallest in size and the innermost planet because of its closeness to the sun.
Mercury has no atmosphere due to its distance from the sun. Its temperature in the
daytime reaches up to 400 and at nighttime it is about 170. Its surface is made up of basalt
and rocky materials.

Venus- Known as the veiled planet because clouds propelled the Venus. It is known as the
Morning and Evening star. Venus can be seen in the earth three hours before sunrise and three
hours before sunset. Venus temperature is higher than mercury because its atmosphere is
made u of carbon dioxide that traps the heat of the sun causing the temperature to rise.

Earth- a planet that can harbour life. 71% of the surface is made of water. Its atmosphere
consists of nitrogen for protein making, oxygen for breathing and carbon dioxide. Earth and
Venus are called twins because of their similarities in size, mass and density.

Mars- the fiery planet because of its red color. Scientist believed before that Mars can also
harbour life because astronauts or satellites that come near to the surface seen a channel
where water can flow. However, it was rejected because theres no water at all and they
conclude that it was made by an illusion that others think that theres water on it. Also, theres no
oxygen in Mars. If there is, it has only a small amount to produce. Mars moon are Pheibos and
Deimos. There are shaped like a potato and believed that they were asteroids that were pulled
by the gravitational force of Mars.

Jupiter- The largest planet in the solar system. Even though it has a large size it rotates rapidly
for about 6 hours. Jupiter is covered by a multi-layered louds and its remarkable feature is the
Great Red Spot that looks like a hurricane. Its gases are made up of hydrogen, helium,
ammonia and methane. Jupiter has 16 moons. Jupiter has a single ring surrounding the planet.
Saturn- The elegant planet because of its rings surrounding it. Its rings were discovered by
Galileo Galilee and named it as Ring A, B C. Ring A is the outermost ring with a large gap
between Ring A and B and called Cassini Gap. Ring C is at the inner part. Voyager 1 discovered
the other ring of Saturn an named it as Ring D,E,F. Ring E is now the outermost ring and Ring D
and F are the inner rings. Its rings were believed to be formed because when Saturn is forming,
it collapsed and some of the particles are pushed away and because of the gravitational pull of
the Saturn it surround the planet. The rings are usually made of ice and other gases (like
Jupiters gases).
Uranus- Saturns twin because of similarities in size, composition and surface area. It is has
rings like Saturn. Uranusrotation is compared like rolling ball unlike the other planets when they
rotate it looks like a spinning top.
Neptune- it is the coldest planet and farthest plane away from the sun. Neptune was discovered
by using mathematical computation unlike Uranus hat was discovered accidentally. Two
scientist (who were unaware that both of them were doing the same thing about the discovery of
Neptune) computed its distance and send their information to the observatory but only one of
them gets the credit of finding Neptune.

Pluto- the dwarf planet and a minor planet together with the other discovery of dwarf planets. It
was believed that Pluto is one of Neptunes moon.