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MERCURY is very hot, being the closet to the sun, it also has a very thin atmosphere. Its atmosphere consists of atoms blasting off its surface by the solar wind. Mercury's heat allows for these atoms to quickly escape into space. Mercury has an atmosphere that in contrast to the Earth and Venus is constantly being replenished. Mariner 10 obeserved a tiny amount of helium about 1,000 km about the surface; however, this is probably caused by the solar wind and the breakdown of Mercury's crust. Sodium, potassium and oxygen have also been detected in Mercury's very weak atmosphere, but these elements can be lost when they react with the Sun and Mercury's magnetic field. |
Mercury's surface looks much like the moon with many craters. These craters were made early in the evolution of the solar system, nearly 4 billion years ago, by meteorites which hit the surface. The relatively smooth plains between craters indicates that at one point the surface was probably volcanic, as lava flows filled in after the impacts of large objects. It appears that these plains and heavily cratered regions are not uniformly scattered around the surface. Instead, craters are concentrated on one part of the planet while plains dominate another part. Mercury's major surface features include ridges, plains, and numerous large craters, the largest (about 800 mi or 1300 km across) named the Caloris Basin. |
VENUS is a cloudy mess that swirls at a rate of 300 km/h. This planet's clouds are filled with sulfuric acid along with compounds of chlorine and flourine surrounding its atmosphere. When the clouds precipitate, an acid rain called vigra begins to fall; however, vigra evaporates before it touches the ground. |
Venus does not have an abundance of craters, and almost no small craters: this is explained by Venus' atmosphere, which is so thick it would cause most small bodies to burn up on entry. Only larger material would survive to strike the surface. Lava flow is another explanation for the lack of craters. It is believed that the surface of Venus is only about half a billion years old. Most of the planet has been resurfaced from volcanism. This would mean, of course, that all but the most recent craters have been filled in by lava. Despite its lack in craters, Venus's surface doesn't lack in physcial characteristics, in fact, it is 20% covered by plantia's an extremely flat surface, compared to lowland regions. It is also covered by a miniscicle 10% highland region known as Terra. These highlands are land masses similiar to Earth's continents; however, much smaller and lower in elevation. |
EARTH is surrounded by a blanket of air, which we call the atmosphere. It reaches over 560 kilometers (348 miles) from the surface of the Earth, so we are only able to see what occurs fairly close to the ground. Early attempts at studying the nature of the atmosphere used clues from the weather, the beautiful multi-colored sunsets and sunrises, and the twinkling of stars. With the use of sensitive instruments from space, we are able to get a better view of the functioning of our atmosphere. |
Life on Earth is supported by the atmosphere, solar energy, and our planet's magnetic fields. The atmosphere absorbs the energy from the Sun, recycles water and other chemicals, and works with the electrical and magnetic forces to provide a moderate climate. The atmosphere also protects us from high-energy radiation and the frigid vacuum of space. |
The envelope of gas surrounding the Earth changes from the ground up. Four distinct layers have been identified using thermal characteristics (temperature changes), chemical composition, movement, and density. |
As far as Earth's surface, look around you, you live on it. |
MARS has relatively thin atmosphere. It consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and contains traces of oxygen, water, and methane. The atmosphere is quite dusty, giving the Martian sky a tawny color when seen from the surface; data from the Mars Exploration Rovers indicates the suspended dust particles are roughly 1.5 micrometres across. |
The surface on Mars is known better than any other, except ours, of course. The southern hemisphere of Mars is quite heavily cratered and resembles our moon. It is old and has been relatively unchanged for some time. The northern hemisphere is quite different, it has few craters and these appear far less eroded indicating they are much younger. The northern hemisphere shows much geologic activity. The surface has been smoothed by repeated lava flows indicating a great deal of volcanic activity. There is also a lot of deformed uplifted crustal sections along with collapsed depressions. |
JUPITER is a gas planet made of hydrogen and helium, layers of clouds surround this planet These clouds are colorful and at different heights, each cloud layer is made with a different chemical one of which is amonia. If there would ever be anything underneath, it would be covered by all these clouds that it wouldn't allow us to get a glimpse. There is one other characteristic that makes this planet seem so majestic and that is its "great red spot." This red spot is a swirling mass of gas that resembles a hurricane, that travels at a speed of about 225 miles (360 kilometers) per hour. |
SATURN has an atmosphere made of sulfur, this makes its clouds appear less colorful and more hazey than Jupiter's. The sulfur is also what makes Saturn look yellowish. Saturn has not changed much from its early days when it formed, unlike the Earth which has changed a lot since its formation. The atmosphere of Saturn, like Jupiter, is only a narrow region, compared to Saturn's huge insides. The clouds of Saturn are to be found mostly low in the atmosphere. Smog can be found higher up. If we look closely Saturn's atmosphere is a fierce with powerful winds. |
URANUS' atmosphere is mainly composed of hydrogen (85%), helium (15%) and methane (2%), similiar to other gas planets. The surface of Uranus consists of blue-green clouds made up of tiny crystals of methane. The crystals have frozen out of the planets atmosphere. Far below the visible clouds are probably thicker cloud layers made up of liquid water and crystals of ammonia ice. Deeper still -- about 4,700 miles (7,500 kilometers) below the visible cloud tops -- may be an ocean of liquid water containing dissolved ammonia. |
NEPTUNE'S atmosphere is composed of hydrogen and helium with traces of methane, which contributes to its blueish hue. Winds roll about this planet at a fast rate of 2000 km/hr, the fastest in the solar system. Like Jupiter, Neptune has a spot half the size of Jupiter's "GREAT RED SPOT," its spot is was discovered by a voyager pass in the southern hemisphere and is now known as the "GREAT DARK SPOT." Voyager 2 also saw a smaller dark spot in the southern hemisphere and a small irregular white cloud that zips around Neptune every 16 hours or so now known as "The Scooter" (right). It may be a plume rising from lower in the atmosphere but its true nature remains a mystery. |
| PLUTO has an envelope of gas that surrounds it that grows as it approaches the sun and shrinks as it moves farther away, just as a comet's coma does. This is what is referred to as its "atmosphere." In recent discoveries the HUBBLE TELESCOPE has retrieved some photos of Pluto's surface. This is the first that astronomers have ever had a glimpse of what Pluto will be like when we finally arrive. The surface appears to be include a "ragged" northern polar cap bisected by a dark strip, a bright spot seen rotating with the planet, a cluster of dark spots, and a bright linear marking that is intriguing the scientific team analyzing the images. The images confirm the presence of icy-bright polar cap features, which had been inferred from indirect evidence for surface markings in the 1980s. Some of the sharp variations across Pluto's surface detected in the Hubble images may potentially be caused by such topographic features as basins and fresh impact craters (as found on Earth's Moon). However, most of the surface features unveiled by Hubble are likely produced by the complex distribution of frosts that migrate across Pluto's surface with its orbital and seasonal cycles. Pluto is so far from the Sun that even nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and methane gases partially freeze onto its surface during the long period (about 100 years) when it is farthest from the Sun. |
| REFERENCES |
| https://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/jupiter_worldbook.html https://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/atmosphere.html https://library.thinkquest.org/C0115361/the%20mercury.html https://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mercury/Atmosphere/atmosphere.html https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/V/Venusatmos.html https://starryskies.com/solar_system/venus/surface.htm |