Solar System Data Sheet
Distance from Sun (miles)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
36,000,000
67,000,000
93,000,000
141,000,000
484,000,000
887,000,000
1,780,000,000
2,870,000,000
Diameter (miles)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
3,000
7,500
7,900
4,200
88,700
75,000
32,000
31,000
Temperature Range
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
-363o F. – 800o F.
855o F.
-128o F. – 136o F.
-200o F. – 32o F
-231o F.
-274o F.
-328o F.
-346o F.
Length of Day (Earth Hours or Days)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
59 days
243 days
23 hrs
56 min
24 hrs
40 min
9 hrs
50 min
9 hrs
40 min
17 hrs
34 min
15 hrs
10 min
Length of Year (Earth Days or Years)
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
88 days
225 days
365 days (1 years)
687 days
12 years
29 years
84 years
165 years
Atmosphere
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Very,
very thin
Very thick,
carbon dioxide
Thick,
Nitrogen and
oxygen
Very thin,
carbon
dioxide
Very thick,
hydrogen
and helium
Very thick,
hydrogen
and helium
Very thick,
Hydrogen,
helium, and
methane
Very thick,
Hydrogen,
helium, and
methane
Composition
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Rock
Rock
Rock
Rock
Gas
Gas
Gas
Gas
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
No
No
No
No
Yes, very
faint
Yes, very
faint
Yes, very
faint
Yes, very
faint
Rings
Moons
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
0
0
1
2
63
63
27
14
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
.38
.91
1
.38
2.4
1.1
.9
1.2
Weight on Planet
Note: Multiply your weight on Earth by the number in the column to get your weight on that planet.
Additional Planet Facts
Inferior Planets
Superior Planets
(between Earth & Sun)
(farther away from the Sun than the Earth).
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Gas
Rocky
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Classical Planets
Modern
Small
Giant
(seen without a telescope)
(seen with a telescope)
(smaller than
(larger than Earth)
Earth).
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Planet Facts
(source: NASA Solar System Exploration, Planets website)
Planet
Planetary Facts
Mercury
Smallest planet, nearest planet to the Sun, surface is covered by craters, its very thin atmosphere is made up of
atoms blasted off the surface by the solar wind and micrometeoroid impacts, named after the Roman god of
commerce and the messenger of the gods.
Venus
Sixth largest planet, surface entirely covered by clouds, atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with clouds
of sulfuric acid, atmospheric pressure is 92 times stronger than Earth’s, is considered Earth’s twin (its diameter is
slightly smaller than Earth’s), Venus rotates clockwise (all other planets rotate counterclockwise), its “day” is
longer than its “year,” has over 1,000 inactive volcanoes on its surface, named after the Roman goddess of love
and beauty.
Earth
Fifth largest planet, only place in universe where we know there is life, only planet that has liquid water on its
surface, 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, twelve men have walked on the surface of the Moon, the
name Earth is an English/German word, which simply means the ground: eor (th)e and ertha (Old English)
and erde (German).
Mars
Seventh largest planet, is red because iron in surface has rusted, has polar ice caps, craters are found on its surface,
evidence that there was liquid water on Mars (in the past) has been found, there can be planet-wide dust storms
(you can’t see its surface from space), the largest volcano in the Solar System (Olympus Mons) is found on Mars,
Mars experiences four seasons like Earth, named by the Romans for their god of war because of its red bloodlike
color, other civilizations also named this planet from this attribute; for example, the Egyptians named it "Her
Desher," meaning "the red one," two moons are probably captured asteroids, there is evidence a third moon
collided with the surface of Mars, the moons were named for the sons of Ares (Mars) - Phobos means fear or
panic (think "phobia") and Deimos means flight (as in running away after an overwhelming defeat).
Jupiter
Largest planet, the Great Red Spot is a hurricane that has lasted over 200 years, the Red Spot is three times the
size of Earth, if Jupiter were 80 times larger it would be a star, named Zeus by the Greeks and Jupiter by the
Romans; he was the most important deity to both Greeks and Romans, Jupiter’s four largest moons (Io, Europa,
Ganymede, Callisto) were discovered by Galileo in 1610, Io looks like a giant pizza, Io has many active
volcanoes, Io’s surface is covered with sulfur “snow,” Europa may have an ocean under its frozen surface, ice on
the surface of Europa moves similar to polar ice on Earth, if Ganymede were orbiting the Sun, it would be a planet
(it is larger than Mercury), Callisto’s surface is the most cratered surface of any world (planet or moon) in the
Solar System.
Saturn
Second largest planet, its rings are its most obvious feature, Saturn is the least dense of the planets in the Solar
System (if you could put it in a tub of water, Saturn would float), the rings are made up of over 1,000 smaller
rings, rings are made up primarily of water ice, Saturn is named for the Roman god of agriculture,
the moon Titan is the largest moon in the Solar System, if Titan were orbiting the Sun, it would be a planet (it is
larger than Mercury), Titan has a very thick and hazy atmosphere, lakes made of natural gas have been found on
the surface of Titan, it rains natural gas on Titan, the moon Mimas has a very larger crater near one of its poles
(it’s called the “Death Star” moon because the crater makes Mimas look like the Death Star), the moon Enceladus
has water geysers spraying water into space, one-half of the surface of Iapetus is white while the other half is
black, the moon Phoebe orbits the planet in a direction opposite that of Saturn's larger moons.
Uranus
Third largest planet, is a twin of Neptune, the planet is blue to blue-green in color, first planet discovered with a
telescope, a collision with an Earth-sized object probably knocked Uranus on its side, few (if any) features are
seen in the clouds of Uranus, the planet was named for Uranus, the Greek god of the sky, the moon Miranda
appears to have been broken up in a collision but later gravity pulled it back together.
Neptune
Fourth largest planet, is a twin of Uranus, the planet is blue to blue-green in color, astronomers used math to
predict the location of Neptune, has some of the most powerful winds in the Solar System, named for the Roman
god of the sea, the moon Triton has active nitrogen geysers, Triton has cliffs that are over twelve miles high, it
would take almost a half-hour to hit the ground if you fell off a cliff, Triton has the lowest temperatures found in
the Solar System.
The thing that sets Mars apart is that it is the one planet that is enough like Earth that you can imagine life
possibly once having taken hold there.
-Steven Squyres