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The Terrestrial Planets

The Terrestrial Planets. Chapter 23, Section 2. Mercury: The Innermost Planet. Mercury, the innermost and smallest planet (not counting Pluto), is hardly larger than Earth’s moon and is smaller than 3 other moons in the solar system

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The Terrestrial Planets

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  1. The Terrestrial Planets Chapter 23, Section 2

  2. Mercury: The Innermost Planet • Mercury, the innermost and smallest planet (not counting Pluto), is hardly larger than Earth’s moon and is smaller than 3 other moons in the solar system • Mercury has no atmosphere, and reflects only 6% of sunlight that hits it • There are cratered highlands, and some smooth terrains • It is a very dense planet, suggesting a large iron core • Mercury revolves around the sun quickly, but it rotates slowly (1 Mercury day = 59 Earth days), so a night on Mercury (-173ºC) lasts for three months and a day (427ºC) lasts for three months • Mercury has the greatest temperature extremes of any planet

  3. Mercury

  4. Venus: The Veiled Planet • Venus orbits the sun in a nearly perfect circle every 255 Earth-days • Venus is covered in thick clouds that visible light cannot penetrate, instead we use radar to view topography • Basaltic volcanism and tectonic activity shape Venus’s surface • Based on the low density of impact craters, these forces must have been very active during the recent geologic past • On Venus, the greenhouse effect has heated the planet’s atmosphere to 475ºC; the main reason for the runaway greenhouse effect is that Venus’s atmosphere consists of 97% carbon dioxide

  5. Venus

  6. Mars: The Red Planet • The Martian atmosphere has only 1% the density of Earth’s and is made primarily of carbon dioxide with some water vapor • Although the atmosphere of Mars is very thin, extensive dust storms occur and may cause the color changes observed from Earth • Hurricane-force winds up to 270 kilometers per hour can persist for weeks • Mars’ northern hemisphere contains several volcanoes (Olympus Mons is the size of Ohio and is 2 ½ times larger than Mt. Everest) • The southern hemisphere is dominated by a large canyon called Valles Marineris • Some areas of Mars exhibit drainage patterns similar to those created by streams on Earth (water = life) • The present Martian atmosphere only contains trace amounts of water

  7. Mars

  8. Assignment • Read Chapter 23, Section 2 (pg. 649-653) • Do Section 23.2 Assessment #1-6 (pg. 653)

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