Chapter 9
The Terrestrial
Planets
Mercury: The Messenger
Mercury’s temperature range is the
most extreme in the solar system
• 59 day rotation and
• lack of an appreciable atmosphere means
temperatures vary enormously from one side of the
planet to the other.
• Temperatures range from -280°F to 660°F
Venus: The Fatal Beauty
Venus: The Fatal Beauty
clouds on Venus
consists of 96%
carbon dioxide and
sulfuric acid!
The Temperature of Venus
The runaway greenhouse effect heats Venus’s
surface to 900oF!
Venus’s Surface: Venera 1981
Venus’s Surface: Radar Mapping
Magellan 1990
Mars: The Warrior
Iron Oxide Surface
Mars’ two moons, Phobos and Deimos, look
more like potatoes than spheres
Enormous
volcanoes
Valles Marineris is many times larger than the Grand Canyon
The Largest Volcano in
The Solar System:
Olympus Mons
Water on Mars?
Water on Mars?
Ohio
River
valley
on Earth
River
channels
on Mars
Spirit and Opportunity 2004
Liquid Water Found on Mars by the Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter 2015
Human Exploration of Mars?
Life on Mars?
Fossil?
Martian meteorite blasted
from Mars 15 million years
ago and landed in Antarctica
13,000 years ago