The Terrestrial Planets

Mercury Very hot/cold –Difference between hottest spots and coldest spots is 600° –Orbits the sun in 88 Earth days –Rotates on its axis in 58 Earth days –That makes its year 1 ½ days Cratered because of bombardment of space debris during the formation of the solar system Ice in craters that do not get sunlight

Mercury Taken from NASA’s Messenger spacecraft

Venus Brightest planet in the sky –Known as the morning star and the evening star 255 days to orbit the sun 243 days to rotate backwards on its axis Cratered and volcanic Atmosphere carbon dioxide and sulfur compounds

Venus Computer-generated picture of Venus from Magellan imaging radar Taken from the Hubble Space Telescope

Earth 365 days to orbit the sun Rotation is 23 hours 56.1 min Known as the “Blue Planet” The only planet capable of sustaining life

Earth Taken from NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite

Mars The “Mysterious Red Planet” Atmosphere thin, mostly carbon dioxide 2 moons—Deimos and Phobos It would take 6 months for a spacecraft to get to Mars 685 days to orbit the sun Rotation—1 day, 18.2 hours

Mars Taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

Asteroid Belt Asteroids are made of rocky and/or iron-nickel material Most are found in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Most are pitted with impact craters and dust left from collisions with other objects in the solar system. A group of asteroids called Near-Earth Asteroids orbit the sun and are close to Earth.

Asteroid Belt The asteroid Gaspra taken by the Galileo spacecraft