Solar System Notes KEY
Planet/
Area
Mercury
Distance and
size
Temp range
d=36 million mi
(58 million km)
-280 to 800°F
-170 to 430°C
D=3,000 mi
(4,900 km)
Venus
d=67 million mi
(108 million km)
Avg. surface
temp over
880°F (470°C)
D=7,500 mi
(12,100 km)
Thick
atmosphere
traps in heat
Composition and
color
*Mostly iron
*Brownish, gold,
gray color
*Large core & thin
mantle
*thin layer of
silicates
*rock and metal
*Color- high red
and low blue
Moons
None
Orbital period ~88
Earth days
d=93 million mi
(150 million km)
-126 to 136°F
-88 to 58°C
D=7,900 mi
(12,800 km)
Atmosphere
*Very thin
He (42%)
Na (42%)
O2 (15%)
H (1%)
Sunrise to
Sunrise= 176
days
*extremely
heavy, thick
*Central core of
iron and nickel
Orbital period
~225 Earth days
97% CO2
3.5% N2
*mantle and thin
crust
Sunrise to
Sunrise= 117
days
Clouds of
sulfuric acid
None
*Iron and Nickel
core
*possibly sulphur
and oxygen
*70% water
*smallest planet
*many craters (caloris basin
is largest)
*hottest planet
*name= Roman Goddess of
Love
*brightest of all planets;
“morning star”/ “evening star”
*Earth’s sister planet
Traces of water *visited by more spacecraft
*rotates backward vapor, argon,
than any other
compared to
neon, carbon
*covered in volcanoes
other planets
monoxide
(E to W)
*thick clouds= greenhouse
effect
*covered with lava
*Mostly blue due
to water on
surface
Special Features
Interesting Facts
*Name=Roman messenger
God b/c move more quickly
than other planets
*poles contain water/ice
Rotation ~243
Earth days
*rocky/dusty
Earth
Rotation and
Orbital Time
Rotation ~59
Earth days
1 called
Rotation ~24 hrs
“Moon”
Orbital period
365.26 days
78% N2
21% O2
trace of other
gases
-water vapor,
CO2
-layered
*only planet that sustains life
*name= Hebrew “erez”ground
*enough water to cover
whole earth with 1 inch
Planet/
Area
Mars
Distance/size
d=142 million mi
(228 million km)
D=4,200 mi
(6,800 km)
Temp range
Comp. and Color
*Molten iron, nickel 2 moons;
-225°F to 68°F and sulphur
*Phobos
(larger)
*3 main layers(-143 to 20°C) 1-crust of rock
*Deimos
2-mantle of denser (smaller)
rock
3-core
*Iron oxide soil
*reddish/rusty
color
Asteroid
Belt
d=140 to 310
million miles;
-226 to -163°F
-108 to -73 °C
225 to 500
million km
1.5 to 3.3 AU
Depending on
distance from
Sun
Jupiter
d=484 million mi
(778 million km)
D=89,000 mi
(143,000 km)
Moons
Surface of
clouds
-230°F
3 Types:
Carbon-based,
Silicate-based,
Metal-rich
moons
named after
Roman
Gods
None
Times
Atmosphere
*name= Roman God of war
Rotation ~24.6
hrs
Orbital period
1.88 yrs
(687 days)
95% CO2
2.7% N2
1.6% Ar
*Very thin
-121C
*mantle (water,
ammonia,
methane ices)
*Earth-sized core
of rock and ice
*believe water in ground
*ice at south pole
*Volcano line (Tharsis
Montes)
2-6 years to
revolve around
sun
none
-remnants of failed planet
-Ceres is largest object
(dwarf planet)
-between orbit of Mars and
Jupiter
-most asteroids in solar
system are here
*dense red, brown, *63 moons
yellow & white
*16 are
clouds
larger than
* 90% H
6 mi in D
*10 % He gases
&liquids
*most Earth-like
*1st spacecraft visited in
1965
Gray to brown to
yellow
(-145°C)
Special features
*4 galileon
moons are
largest:
Ganymede,
Io, Europa,
Callisto
Rotation ~9.9 hrs
Orbital period
11.86 yrs
(4331 days)
- very complex
-biggest planet
-turbulent
swirls
-named= King of Roman
Gods
-gaseous
-strong magnetic field
-no solid
*fastest rotation of surface
all planets
-dark
lines=belts
-light
lines=zones
-gravity=254% of Earth’s
gravity
-Great Red Spot is
continuous storm
-3 very faint rings
-more matter than all planets
combined
Planet
Distance/size
Temp range
Saturn
d=887 million mi
(1.42 billion km)
Avg -288 °F
(-178° C)
D=75,000 mi
(121,000 km)
Comp. and Color
Small rocky core
surrounded by
liquid metallic
hydrogen layer
covered by
Hydrogen/Helium
gases
Moons
-Over 50
-31 officially
named
-Titan is
largest
-sandy color
Uranus
d=1.78 billion mi
(2.87 billion km)
Avg -357°F
(-216°C)
D=32,000 mi
(51,000 km)
- blue green from
methane gas
27 known
-various rocks and
icy liquids
-6 unnamed
-methane, water,
ammonia
-21 named
-Oberon
and Titania
are largest
Times
Rotation
~10 hrs 39
minutes
Atmosphere
Special features
-flattened poles
*2nd fastest
rotation
96.3% H,
3.25% He,
Traces of
Ammonia,
Acetylene,
Ethane,
Phospine,
Methane,
Ammonium
hydrosulfate
Rotation changes
due to angle of
axis
~16-17 hrs
83% H
15% He
2% methane
gas
-11 rings
Orbital period
~29.4 years
(10,759 days)
Orbital period 84
years (30,687
days)
-super strong mag. Field
-most predominant ring
system (ice, water, mix with
different elements)
-only planet less dense than
water
-superfast winds create
bands
-mag field 48xs Earth
-1st planet discovered in
modern times by William
Herschel in 1781
Traces of water -1st called Georgium Sidus
and ammonia
-tipped on its side
-rotates on side
-2nd least dense
Neptune
d=2.80 billion mi
(4.50 billion km)
Avg -353 °F
(-214 °C)
D=31,000 mi
(49,500 km)
Pluto
d=3.67 billion mi
(5.91 billion km)
D=1,500 mi
(2,400 km)
-H, He, water,
silicates
-Blue due to frozen
methane
Mantle: water,
ammonia,
methane ice
Core: rock, ice
Core
Ice mantle
-233 to -223°C 98% frozen
nitrogen
Light brown
13 known
-Triton is
largest and
only moon
in SS to
orbit same
direction as
planet
-387 to -369°F
3 moons:
Charon,
Nix, Hydra
Rotation
~16.11 hrs
(12 hrs at poles)
84% H
14% He
2% methane
-several large dark spots
“The great dark spot”
Orbital period
~165 years
80%H
19%He
-named after Roman God of
Sea
Ammonia,
Hydrogen
sulphide, CO
Rotation: ~6.4
days
Orbit: 247.9 yrs
(90,553 days)
Thin
Nitrogen,
carbon
monoxide,
methane
-very narrow rings
-discovered in 1846
-could be raining diamonds
-dynamic storm system
-dwarf planet
-smaller than 7 moons in SS
-discovered in 1930
Kuiper
Belt
7.5 trillion km
-233 deg C
Core- red
4.7 trillion mi
-370 deg F
Lumps of icy
material
42 AU
(~50K)
None
known
Short period
comets- less than
200 years to orbit
the sun
N/A
-named after discoverer:
Gerard Kuiper
-over 1000 objects identified
Comets
1200 km across
Oort
Cloud
30 trill km from
sun
50,000-100,000
AU from sun
-where astronomers believe
short period comets originate
from
~4 Kelvin
(almost
absolute 0)
Spherical Shell of
icy bodies
(comets)
None
known
Long period
comets- up to 30
million years to
complete 1 orbit
N/A
-452 °F
(-269 °C)
Moon
Distance from planet
Temp range
and size
Distance from
Earth=239,000 mi
-387 to 253 °F
(384,000 km)
-233 to 123 °C
D= 2160 miles (3500
km)
Distance from
Jupiter= 665,000 mi
(1,070,000 km)
D=3270 mi
(5300 km)
-Most long period comets
believed to originate from
Oort Cloud
-Hypothetical ring of debris
and comets left from
formation of SS
*distance from Earth
increases ~1.5 inches
per year
Ganymede
-Farthest from sun and still
be in SS
-Total mass 40Xs earth
Billions of icy
bodies
Moon
-contains several dwarf
planets
Composition
and color
White to gray;
depends on
titanium and iron
content
Rotation and
Orbital Time
Synchronous orbit
Atmosphere
Very thin due
to gravity
27.3 days
He, Ar, H
45% SiO2,
20% Al2O3,
14% CaO, 10%
FeO, 8% MgO,
3% TiO2
Special Features
Interesting Facts
-2nd brightest object in sky
-Only other object in Universe
visited by man; Neil Armstrong
was the first human on moon, July
20, 1969
-Moon’s gravitational pull causes
ocean tides
-333 to -186 °F
Brownish
Synchronous
Very thin
-203 to -121 °C
Silicate rock and
water/ice
Only moon in Solar System to
have a magnetosphere
7.15 days
Traces of O2
Galileo discovered 1610
Frosts cause
bright spots
Layered interior
Largest moon in Solar System
Moon
Distance from planet
and size
Europa
Temp range
-370 to -235 °F
Distance from
Jupiter= 417,000 mi
(671,000 km)
-220 to -148 °C
Distance from
Jupiter= 262,000 mi
(422,000 km)
Distance from
Jupiter= 1,170,000 mi
(1,883,000 km)
Distance from
Saturn= 759,000 mi
(1,222,000 km)
D=6400 mi
(5149km)
Frozen
Traces of O2
Liquid ocean under frozen surface
kept warm by tidally generated
heat
One of most studied objects by
astrobiologists
Layered interior
structure
Galileo discovered 1610
-298 to -226 °F
White and yellow
Synchronous
Very thin
-183 to -143 °C
Mostly sulfur
compounds
Most volcanically object in our
solar system
1.77 days
90% sulfur
dioxide (SO2)
Dangerous surface (not stable)
Volcanoes/Lava
lakes
10% other
gases
Layered interior
structure
-315 to -162 °F
Grayish with
orange
Synchronous
Very thin
-193 to -108 °C
Mixture of rock,
water ice,
ammonia ice
16.7 days
CO2
Orange color
Synchronous
rotation
Very thick and
dense
Nitrogen,
methane, ethane
15 days 22 hrs
95% Nitrogen,
with traces of
methane,
ethane clouds
D=3000 mi
(4800 km)
Titan
Special Features
Interesting Facts
Very thin
Smooth icy crust
D=2260 mi
(3600 km)
Callisto
Atmosphere
water/ice
D=1940 mi
(3120 km)
Io
Composition
Rotation and
and color
Orbital Time
Marble white with Synchronous
red-brown streaks
3.55 days
Silicate rock and
Avg -290°F
(-180°C)
Jupiter’s gravity causes 300 ft
“tides” in the solid surface
Galileo discovered 1610
Most heavily cratered moon
Named after Greek mythology
3rd largest moon in solar system
Galileo discovered 1610
Only moon with clouds and dense
atmosphere
Discovered 1655 by Huygens
2nd largest moon in solar system