Astronomy for Beginners
Planets
By Aashman Vyas
What is a Planet?
-A Planet is a Celestial body that is in orbit around the Sun
-Has enough mass so it’s own Gravity pulls into a nearround shape (Spheroid)
-Is Gravitationally dominant in it’s own orbit
-There are Eight Planets in the Solar System
Definition of a Dwarf Planet:
-It orbits the Sun
-Has enough Gravity so can turn into a Spheroid shape
-Is not Gravitationally dominant in it’s own orbit
-Is not a Moon
Mercury
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Mercury is the planet nearest the sun
It has a diameter of 3,032 miles (4,879
kilometers), about two-fifths of Earth's
diameter
Mercury orbits the sun at an average
distance of about 36 million miles (58
million kilometers)
Scans of Mercury made by Earthbased radar show that craters at
Mercury's poles contain water ice
The floors of the craters are
permanently shielded from sunlight, so
the temperature never gets hot
enough to melt the ice
The temperature on Mercury can
range from 450 degrees °C to -176
degrees °C
Mercury has an atmosphere! Mercury
is surrounded by an extremely small
layer of helium, hydrogen, oxygen, and
sodium!
* Mercury can’t sustain life because: it gets constantly
bombarded with solar wind, gets too much radiation and
of course, it’s too hot.
Venus
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The diameter of Venus is
about 7,520 miles (12,100
kilometers), approximately 400
miles (644 kilometers) smaller
than that of the Earth
The surface of Venus is
extremely hot and dry. There is
no liquid water on the planet's
surface because the high
temperature would cause any
liquid to boil away
Thick clouds of sulfuric acid
cover Venus
The temperature on Venus is
almost always somewhere
around 465 degrees°C
*Venus can’t sustain life because the surface is
covered with volcanoes, it rains sulphuric acid and it’s
the hottest planet in the solar system.
Earth
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Earth has a diameter of
about 8,000 miles
(13,000 kilometers)
Earth is about 93 million
miles (150 million
kilometers) from the sun
Earth is the Planet we live
on
It is the only Planet (as
far as we know) can
sustain life
*So far, Earth is the only planet that can sustain
life.
Mars
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Viewed from Earth, Mars is a
bright reddish-orange
It owes its color to iron-rich
minerals in its soil. This color is
also similar to the color of rust,
which is composed of iron and
oxygen.
It’s colour comes from the IronOxide or rust in it’s soil
Mars is 141,620,000 miles (one
hundred forty-one million, six
hundred twenty thousand)
(227,920,000 kilometers) from the
Sun
Mars is 6,792km (4,220 miles) in
Diameter
The temperature on Mars can be
27 degrees°C to -129 degrees°C
*Mars may have been able to sustain life, but today it is a barren,
desert world. Mars can’t sustain life because it doesn’t have a
strong magnetic field so the solar wind will evaporate any water on
the surface, and it is very cold.
Jupiter
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Jupiter has a diameter of 88,846
miles (142,984 kilometers)
Jupiter is mostly made out of
Hydrogen, Helium and Nitrogen
Basically it’s a big ball of gas
The temperature at the top of
Jupiter's clouds is about -230
degrees F (-145 degrees C).
Measurements made by ground
instruments and spacecraft show
that Jupiter's temperature
increases with depth below the
clouds
The temperature reaches 70
degrees F (21 degrees C)
The diameter of Jupiter is 142 984
kilometers
*Jupiter can’t sustain life because it does not have a
surface so if you stood on it you would fall away to the
core and there you would melt because the temperature
is 30,000°C
Saturn
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Saturn has seven thin, flat
rings around it
Saturn’s distance from the sun
varies from about 941,070,000
miles (nine hundred forty-one
million, seventy thousand) at
its farthest point to about
840,440,000 miles
(1,352,550,000 kilometers) at
its closest point
The temperature at the top of
Saturn's clouds is about -285
degrees F (-175 degrees C)
The diameter of Saturn is
about 120 536 kilometers
If you were to put Saturn in a
Bathtub, it would float!
Saturn can’t sustain life because it doesn’t have a solid surface.
And it’s too cold.
Uranus
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It’s distance from the sun
is 1,784,860,000 miles
(one billion, seven
hundred eighty-four
million)
Uranus’s diameter is
51 118 kilometers
Max. Temperature:
-200°C
Min. Temperature:
-214°C
Uranus has rings just like
all the other outer Planets
Uranus can’t sustain life because it doesn’t have a solid
surface. And it’s too cold.
Neptune
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The blue clouds on Neptune
are mostly frozen methane
Neptune’s diameter is 30,775
miles (49,528 kilometers)
Neptune’s distance from the
Sun is 279,310,000,0 miles
(two billion, seven hundred
ninety-three million, one
hundred thousand)
Min. Temperature: -218
degrees Celsius
Max. Temperature:-200
degrees Celsius
Neptune can’t sustain life because it doesn’t have a solid
surface. Also it is too cold.
Bibliography
Yahoo Answers
 NASA.gov
 Google images
 Ask an Astronomer
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Thank You For
Watching!!!