Planets in the Solar System

Earth Science

Chapter 3

The Planets

There are nine planets in our solar system. They each rotate around the sun in an elliptical orbit. The nine planets are:

1. Venus 6. Saturn

2. Mercury 7. Uranus

3. Earth 8. Neptune

4. Mars 9. Pluto

5. Jupiter

Mercury

- Planet closest to the sun

- One of the hottest planets

- Rocky, cratered surface

- Steep cliffs- Extremely thin

atmosphere

Venus

- 2nd planet from the sun

- Thick cloud cover- Greenhouse effect- Retrograde rotation- Vast plains- High mountains

Earth

- 3rd planet from the sun

- Atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen

- Contains living things- Earth’s surface is

97% water

Mars

- 4th planet from the sun

- Polar ice caps - Pink sky- Rust-colored surface- Explored by Vikings 1

and 2- Has two tiny moons

Jupiter- 5th planet form the

sun- Great red spot- Magnetosphere- Extremely high

temperatures- Explored by Voyagers

1 and 2- Has moons called Io,

Europa, Ganymede and Callisto

Saturn- 6th planet from the

sun- Has many rings and

ringlets - Spins rapidly on axis- Made mainly of

hydrogen and helium gases

- Titan, the only moon with substantial atmosphere

Uranus

- 7th planet from the sun

- Rotates on its side- Has a greenish-blue

color- Has 9 known rings

surrounding it- Has 15 moons

Neptune

- 8th planet from the sun- Mathematician’s

planet- Has thick cloud cover- Has rocky core

surrounded by slush of water and frozen methane

Pluto

- 9th planet from the sun

- Smallest and least massive planet

- Made of various ices- Coldest planet- Possibly a double

planet