c

: 3.303 x 1023 kg (0.

0553 Earths)
 
 
 : 2 439 km
c 

: 5.42 g cm-3


: 57 910 000 km


 : 58.6 days

: 88 days

  
: 4.25 km s-1
 
 
: -1.90
 

: 179°C (427deg;C, max. -173°C, min.)




: Helium (42%), sodium (42%), oxygen (15%).


 

 None

  




Mercury is the second smallest planets (smaller than Saturn's satellite Titan). Its orbit is highly elliptical. It is only 46 million km
from the Sun at its perihelion but 70 million km at its aphelion. There are only three 'Mercury days' in two 'Mercury years'. In
orther words, it rotates three times as it completes two orbits round the Sun.

Mercury has a very thin atmosphere. Because Mercury is so close to the Sun, most of the atomsphere has boiled off and escape to
the space. The atmospheric residuals are constantly replenished from materials blast off from the surface by the solar wind. The
lack of atmosphere means that the surface temperature is very extreme: from the low -173°C to boiling hot 427°C. The hot
temperature is only surpassed by Venus but the latter temperature is very stable due to the presence of its thick atmosphere.

The surface features on Mercury is very similar to the Moon: peppered with craters and it has no plate tectonic. Mercury is,
however, the second densest planet, followed closely after Earth. Due to its small size, Mercury is thought to contain no magnetic
field as the core would have solidified long ago. However, it was during the Mariner 10 mission in 1974-75 found that Mercury has
a very small magnetic field. The strength is only 1% of Earth's. This led to the conclusion that Mercury may have a partially
molten iron core. Magnetic fields are generated from the rotation of a conductive molten core and is known as the dynamo effect.

The high density of the planet indicates that the planet is consisted of up to 70% of metal by weight and the rest silicates. This
gives a core radius of 75% of the planet radius, or around 1850 km. Mercury is often visible to naked eyes but is difficult to spot
since the planet is located low in the twilight sky. When looking at the projected image through a telescope Mercury may
sometimes be seen as a small black disk moving slowly across the Sun (WARNING: Looking at the Sun directly with a telescope or
binoculars only invites irreversible blindness).
|

c

: 4.869 X 1024 kg (0.815 Earths)

 
 
 : 6 052 km
c 

: 5.25 g cm-3


: 108 200 000 km


 : 243.02 days

: 224.7 days

  
: 10.36 km s-1
 
 
: -4.4
 

: 482°C




: Carbon dioxide (96%), nitrogen (3%), sulfur dioxide, argon, helium etc. (1%)


 

: none

  




Historically, Venus is well known as the morning star, or evening star. Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty its
surface is veiled by thick clouds. Beside the Sun and Moon, Venus is the brightest celestial object, shine with steady bright white
light. Its physical dimensions are rather similar to that of Earth and is referred to as the Earth's sister planet. Venus rotates very
slowly on its axis once every 243 Earth days, longer than the duration it orbits the Sun, every 225 days. It also
rotates Ô
ÔÔ , or spin in the opposite direction of its orbit round the Sun. In other words, if one stands on the Venusian
surface the Sun would seem to rise in the west and set in the east.

The relationship with the Earth as a twin sister ends when comparing surface features between the two planets. In many respect
the Earth would be how Venus looks now if the former volcano activities are increased by hundreds of thousands of times.
Geologically speaking, Venus' surface is relatively young that seems to have completely reconstructed 300 to 500 million years
ago. Volcano activities, deformation of the crust have shaped the surface. At least 85% of the Venusian surface is covered with
volcanic rock with huge lava flows flooded the plains. The flows have also produced channels that extend for hundreds of
kilometers. There are at least 1000 volcanoes larger then 20 km and probably over a million more that are over 1 km in diameter.
However, there is no direct evidence that these volvanos are still active.

Not surprisingly, its atmosphere is thick with carbon dioxide, probably as a result of its past volcano activities and contains
droplets of sulfuric acid. The atmosphere essentially creates a run-away Ô  effect that allows the Sun's heat in but does
not allow it to escape. This results in a temperature that is hotter than Mercury. In addition, the surface pressure is 90 times that
of Earth which is why probes that landed on Venus only survived several hours before being crushed by the tremendous pressure.
The dense atmosphere also acts as a protective cover against small meteorite impacts as no craters greater than 2 km can be
found on the surface.

Recent results from the Magellan spacecraft suggest that Venus¶ crust is stronger and thicker than had previously been thought.
Venus has no satellites and no intrinsic magnetic field, but the solar wind rushing by Venus creates a pseudo-field around the
planet.

È 

The Soviet Union's Venera Missions were the first to touch down on the surface of Venus. However, these probes only survived at
most up to two hours (Venera 13). Visual photos taken by telescopes and other flybys only show thick atmospheric cloud which
masks the Vanusian surface features. However, the Magellan mission (1990-1994) used radar mapper to reveal for the first time
surface features in 3D perspective.

Volcano Sapas Mons, located in the broad equatorial rise known as Alta Regio. The volcano is about 400 km across and 1.5 km
high. Many of the flows appear to have erupted along the flanks of the volcano, rather than from the summit - common on large
volcanoes on the Earth.
|

|
 c

: 5.976 X 1024 kg (1 Earth)
 
 
 : 6378 km
c 

: 5.515 g cm-3


: 149 600 000 km


 : 0.99727 days

: 365.256 days

  
: 11.18 km s-1
 

: 15°C (mean)




: nitrogen (77%), oxygen (21%), other (2%)

  




Our planet Earth is the only planet known to harbor life. There are many intertwining factors why life thrives on the Earth both in
terms of quantity and variety. Being the third planet, it is situated at a mean distance of just short of 150 000 000 km from
theSun, a distance that is neither too cold nor too hot for water to exist, an essential ingredient for living organisms. Earth's thick
atmosphere helps to regulate the temperature that prevent excessive heat from baking the surface while burns most meteorites
before they hit the Earth. At night the Earth's molten nickel-iron core warms the surface and prevent excessive cooling. The
molten core also generates strong magnetosphere and, together with the atmosphere, shield the Earth from nearly all harmful
radiation coming from the Sun (and other stars).

The Earth's atmosphere consists of 77% nitrogen and 21% oxygen. The former is chemically inert that helps to stablize the
atmosphere. Without it, the chemically reactive oxygen will react with many materials, leading to spontaneous combustion. In
addition, the tiny amount of carbon dioxide (~0.03%) is acting as a moderate green house agent. The gas retains heat so that the
average surface temperature is maintained at a comfortable 15°C. Otherwise, the temperature will easily drop to around -20°C
and ocean would freeze.

Geologically speaking, the Earth's surface is very young, about 500 000 000 years. Erosion and tectonic processes destroy most of
the traces of earlier geologic surface history. Nowadays, it is very difficult to find rocks older than 3 billion years old, about 1.5
billion years short of the Earth's age. About 71% of the Earth surface is covered with water. Earth is the only planet where water
can exist in liquid form. The presence of large amount of water also helps to regulate the temperature. The liquid water is also
responsible for a variety of geochemical processes such as erosion, migration and cyclization of minerals and elements. Oxygen
accounts for about 47% of Earth's crust by weight, while silicon and aluminium comprise of 27% and 8% respectively. Complex
cyclization processes (carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle etc) between atmosphere and surface ensure supplies of biologically important
elements are properly maintained, often involving waters as intermediaries.

Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. Interesting gravitational effects between the Earth and Moon result in the tides. The
gravitaional interaction also causes the Moon to rotate
Ô 
, that is, it is locked in phase with its orbit so that the same
side is always facing the Earth. In addition, Earth is known to have 'companions' which have complicated orbital relationship with
the Earth. One example is the Asteroid 3753 Cruithne.
|

c

: 6.421 X 1023 kg (0.1075 Earths)

 
 
 : 3397 km
c 

: 3.94 g cm-3


: 227 940 000 km


 : 24.62 hours (1.026 days)

: 686.98 days

  
: 5.02 km s-1
 
 
: -2.01
 

: -63°C (mean)




: carbon dioxide (95.32%), nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%), oxygen (0.13%), carbon monoixde
(0.07%)


 

: 2 (Phobos and Deimos)

  




It is the most visited planet after our own planet Earth. Mars is also commonly known as the Red Planet due to its orange-red
appearance in the sky. Unlike Venus, Mars has more favorable conditions to be considered as possible candidate to harbor life.
Nevertheless, Mars' orbit is significantly elliptical, meaning that temperature can vary wildly between -133°C at the poles to about
25°C during summer. Martian atmosphere contains a tiny amount of water, about a thousandth of water content in Earth's
atmosphere. Even then, clouds can still form and are found to swirl around highlands and mountains.

Martian surface is rich with a variety of terrains that are very similar to Earth. Specifically, erosions, dry gorges, shorelines and
riverbeds are found on the Martian surface. These terrain features are strikingly similar to those from Earth, suggesting that water
may have once flown freely on the surface of Mars. This suggestion is further strengthened from the recent discoveries made by
the Mars Global Surveyorthat surface features indicating current sources of liquid water at or near the Martian surface were being
discovered. In addition, the Mars Odyssey probe discovers large deposit of frozen hydrogen (and thus possibly ice) located near
the southern polar region. Not surprisingly, numerous mission projects have been planned to study the planet in greater details,
including survey probes, surface rovers, soil sample returns and even a possible future human exploration.

The Nasa's twin exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars at different location in early 2004. The rovers revealed
temptation clues about the presence of water in the past. The rock features were highly altered and contained bromine, sulfur and
chlorine, suggestive of watery past. Mars has two small, irregular-shaped satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Both may be composed
of a mixture of carbon-rich rock and ice. Both are heavily cratered. Their origins are not known, but are widely regarded as the
captured asteroids that may perhaps originate from the outer solar system.
|

c

: 1.90 X 1027 kg (317.9 Earths)

 
 
 : 71 492 km
c 

: 1.33 g cm3


: 778 330 000 km


 : 0.4135 days

!: 4332.71 days

  
: 59.56 km s-1
 
 
: -2.70
 

: -121°C (cloud)




: hydrogen (90%), helium (10%)



 
: 16 (Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Io etc.)

  




oupiter is the largest planet and is the fourth brightest object in the sky, after the Sun, the Moon and Venus. Its volume can fit in
more than one thousand Earths and contains more matter than all of the other planets combined. oupiter's magnetosphere,
measured by the Cassini spacecrsft is found to extend far into space, with a distance equivalent to 30 times the radius of the
planet. If its magnetosphere is visible from Earth, it would appear five times as large as the full moon. Unlike Saturn, oupiter has
also a ring system but is much thinner and very faint. It was only discovered whenVoyager 1 approached the planet in 1979.

One can only speculate the structure of the planet. Its atmosphere is very thick and deep. The interior pressure may reach 100
millions times the pressure on Earth's surface. oust like the Sun, it is composed of mainly hydrogen and helium. oupiter's weather
is highly dynamic. Strips of latitudinal bands and turbulance clouds are clearly visible even with a small telescope. The
charactristic red spot (The Giant Red Spot) is in fact a complex strom, moving in a counter-clockwise direction, has been raging
for hundreds of years. The first direct measurement of its upper atmosphere was first carried out by the Galileo Probe in ouly
1995. The probe managed to penetrate about 200 km before it was crushed by the atmosphere.

oupiter has 16 known moons. The four largest moons (named in order of increasing size: Europa, Io, Callisto and Ganymede) were
discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610 and are subsequently known as the Galilean satellites. Apart from the 16 named moons,
recently 23 more have been discovered but not yet been named.
|

c

: 5.688 X 1026 kg (95.18 Earths)

 
 
 : 60 268 km
c 

: 0.69 g/cm3


: 1 429 400 000 km


 : 10.233 hours

: 29.458 years

  
: 35.49 km s-1
 
 
: 0.67
 

: -125°C (cloud)




: hydrogen (97%), helium (3%)


 

: 34 (Titan, Iapetus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys etc.)

  




The planet Saturn is second largest in terms of size in the Solar System. It is famously known due to its spectacular appearance of
ring systems. However, Saturn has been known since prehistoric times and in Roman mythology the planet is the god of
agriculture. Nevertheless, the unusual feature of the planet was not realised until the year 1610 when Galileo first observed the
planet with a telescope, his new invention. Saturn remained the only planet known to possess the ring until 1977 when rings were
also discovered around Uranus, oupiter and Neptune. However, these rings are very faint and thin when compare with that of
Saturn. The rings are made mainly of small rocky materials coated with reflective water ice. Close inspection of the rings reveal
hundreds of distinguishable smaller bands with gaps in-between. The most prominant gap, is called the Cassini Gap or Division. It
is named after the French-Italian Astronomer oean-Dominique Cassini who discovered the gap. The gap is large enough to be
visible even from Earth telescopes (see picture above).

Saturn was first visited by the NASA space probe, Pioneer 11 and then followed by Voyager 1 and 2. At the time of this writing,
the Cassini space probe, which arrived in ouly 2004, is currently orbiting the planet systems. Like oupiter, Saturn is a gas giant
which composed mainly of hydrogen and helium. The density of the planet is very small and coupled with its rapid rotation, the
spherical shape of the planet appears squashed (oblate), as the picture shown above.

Saturn has more than 34 satellites. These bodies are usually very small. The only notably large satellite is Titan, which is also
visible in a small telescope. In space, it appears as a large, featureless orange blob, due to its extremely thick atmospheric cloud
that completely shrouds the surface feature beneath. There is a great deal of interest to study Titan not only becuase it is the only
satellite that contains significant amount of atmosphere but also its meteorological system is thought to be comparable to that of
primodial Earth. Its atmosphere consists largely of nitrogen, argon and methane. with a surface temperature of less than -175
degree C, no water vapour is expected to exist in atmosphere. Instead, vapour and liquid system of unusual kind is thought to
exist, such as ethane and methane oceans and lakes, that weathers the surface.
|

c

: 8.686 X 1025 kg (14.54 Earths)

 
 
 : 25 559 km
c 

: 1.29 g cm-3


: 2 870 990 000 km


 : 17.9 hours

: 84.01 years

  
: 21.30 km s-1
 
 
: 5.52
 

: -193°C (cloud)




: hydrogen (83%), helium (15%), methane (2%)


 

: 15 (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon etc.)

c

: 1.024 X 1026 kg (17.14 Earths)

 
 
 : 24 746 km
c 

: 1.64 g cm-3


: 4 504 300 000 km


 : 16.11 hours

: 164.79 years

  
: 23.50 km s-1
 
 
: 7.84
 

: -173°C (mean, cloud)




: hydrogen (85%), helium (13%), methane (2%)


 

: 8 (Triton, Nereid, Proteus etc.)

|
 NEPTUNE

Neptune is the outermost planet of the gas giants. It has an equatorial diameter of 49,500 kilometers (30,760 miles). If Neptune were hollow, it could
contain nearly 60 Earths. Neptune orbits the Sun every 165 years. It has eight moons, six of which were found by Voyager. A day on Neptune is 16
hours and 6.7 minutes. Neptune was discovered on September 23, 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle, of the Berlin Observatory, and Louis d'Arrest, an
astronomy student, through mathematical predictions made by Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier.

The first two thirds of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and methane. The outer third is a mixture of heated
gases comprised of hydrogen, helium, water and methane. Methane gives Neptune its blue cloud color.|

Neptune is a dynamic planet with several large, dark spots reminiscent of Jupiter's hurricane-like storms. The largest spot, known as the Ë
 
 , is about the size of the earth and is similar to the Ë


 on Jupiter. Voyager revealed a small, irregularly shaped, eastward-moving
cloud   around Neptune every 16 hours or so. This  
as it has been dubbed could be a plume rising above a deeper cloud deck.

Long bright clouds, similar to cirrus clouds on Earth, were seen high in Neptune's atmosphere. At low northern latitudes, Voyager captured images of
cloud streaks casting their shadows on cloud decks below.

The strongest winds on any planet were measured on Neptune. Most of the winds there blow westward, opposite to the rotation of the planet. Near the
Great Dark Spot, winds blow up to 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) an hour.

Neptune has a set of four rings which are narrow and very faint. The rings are made up of dust particles thought to have been made by tiny meteorites
smashing into Neptune's moons. From ground based telescopes the rings appear to be arcs but from Voyager 2 the arcs turned out to be bright spots or
clumps in the ring system. The exact cause of the bright clumps is unknown.

The magnetic field of Neptune, like that of Uranus, is highly tilted at 47 degrees from the rotation axis and offset at least 0.55 radii (about 13,500
kilometers or 8,500 miles) from the physical center. Comparing the magnetic fields of the two planets, scientists think the extreme orientation may be
characteristic of flows in the interior of the planet and not the result of that planet's sideways orientation or of any possible field reversals at either planet.

URANUS

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and is the third largest in the solar system. It was discovered byWilliam Herschel in 1781. It has an equatorial
diameter of 51,800 kilometers (32,190 miles) and orbits the Sun once every 84.01 Earth years. It has a mean distance from the Sun of 2.87 billion
kilometers (1.78 billion miles). It rotates about its axis once every 17 hours 14 minutes. Uranus has at least 22 moons. The two largest
moons,Titania and Oberon, were discovered by William Herschel in 1787.

The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane and small amounts of acetylene and other hydrocarbons. Methane
in the upper atmosphere absorbs red light, giving Uranus its blue-green color. The atmosphere is arranged into clouds running at constant latitudes,
similar to the orientation of the more vivid latitudinal bands seen on Jupiter and Saturn. Winds at mid-latitudes on Uranus blow in the direction of the
planet's rotation. These winds blow at velocities of 40 to 160 meters per second (90 to 360 miles per hour). Radio science experiments found winds of
about 100 meters per second blowing in the opposite direction at the equator.|

Uranus is distinguished by the fact that it is tipped on its side. Its unusual position is thought to be the result of a collision with a planet-sized body early
in the solar system's history. Voyager 2 found that one of the most striking influences of this sideways position is its effect on the tail of the magnetic
field, which is itself tilted 60 degrees from the planet's axis of rotation. The magnetotail was shown to be twisted by the planet's rotation into a long
corkscrew shape behind the planet. The magnetic field source is unknown; the electrically conductive, super-pressurized ocean of water and ammonia
once thought to lie between the core and the atmosphere now appears to be nonexistent. The magnetic fields of Earth and other planets are believed to
arise from electrical currents produced in their molten cores.

*
 

In 1977, the first nine rings of Uranus were discovered. During the Voyager encounters, these rings were photographed and measured, as were two
other new rings and ringlets. Uranus' rings are distinctly different from those at Jupiter and Saturn. The outermost
  ring is composed mostly of ice
boulders several feet across. A very tenuous distribution of fine dust also seems to be spread throughout the ring system.

There may be a large number of narrow rings, or possibly incomplete rings or ring arcs, as small as 50 meters (160 feet) in width. The individual ring
particles were found to be of low reflectivity. At least one ring, the epsilon, was found to be gray in color. The moons Cordelia and Ophelia act
as shepherd satellites for the epsilon ring.