THE PLANETS

Mercury Mercury has virtually no atmosphere. It however has small traces of an atmosphere . It takes less than 88 Earth days for Mercury to orbit around the sun which is it’s year. Because of a lack of an atmosphere, the temperature rises above 800°F while on the dark side it falls rapidly to -300°F. Mercury rotates slowly on its axis. It completes one rotation every 59 Earth days which is it’s day. The surface of Mercury is heavily cratered, looking much like our moon. Mercury does not have a natural satellite (a moon)

Venus Its atmosphere is made up mostly of carbon dioxide which causes a run away greenhouse effect and the planet is around 900 degrees F. It is the hottest planet. It takes 243 days to make a rotation and it takes 224 days to orbit around the sun. This makes it’s day longer than it’s year The planet rotates from East to West which is called retrograde rotation. Venus does not have a natural satellite (a moon)

Earth It is made up of approx. 70% water Only planet known to contain life The densest planet Day = 24 hours Year = 365.25 days

Mars It is red because there is a lot of iron in the soil Mars year= 687 Earth days. Nighttime temperatures on Mars can drop as low as -191°F. The thin atmosphere is made of mostly carbon dioxide. Mars has seasons like Earth. Mars has two moons

Jupiter It rotates faster than any planet making the days only 10 hours long. It is the largest planet. It has a ring The great red spot is a storm that has been going on for over 300 years.

Saturn It has the lowest density of all the planets. It has over 30 known satellites It’s rings are made up of pieces of rocks and dust.

Uranus It is the coldest planet It is tilted completely on it’s side because of impact from an asteroid It is the blue-green because of its methane gas It has rings

Neptune Neptune is the stormiest planet The planet has a system of thin dark rings Neptune has 8 known moons