Fundamental Aspects of the Solar System: Essay on Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Earth, Venus

The Planets

Jupiter

Jupiter is a gaseous planet made up of about 75% hydrogen and 24%helium. The largest planet in the solar system at 69,911 km radius, a diameter of 139,820 km, and a mass of 1.898 x 10^27kg Jupiter orbits the barycentre and not the sun as the sun lacks a gravitational effect on Jupiter. Jupiter is the only planet to not orbit around the sun Takes 11.8 years to complete its orbit Has the shortest day in the solar system taking less than 10 hours

Has a planetary axis of only 3.13 degrees so due to this and the distance from the sun the season on Jupiter changes very slowly and there is hardly any difference between the seasons. Covered in yellow, red, brown, and white clouds Giant Red Spot is Jupiter’s most well-known feature as it resembles a giant hurricane, it is 3 ½ times larger than Earth

Jupiter has 4 known rings surrounding the planet made up of dust and they are very difficult to see. The rings are called the halo ring, the Amalthea ring, the main ring, and the Thebe gossamer ring Jupiter has four moons and many more smaller moons Jupiter has a magnetic field called the magnetosphere. Charger particles are trapped inside it which forms intense radiation belts. These belts are a million times more intense than Van Allen belts

Saturn

Saturn is a gaseous planet made up of 94% hydrogen and 6% of helium. Saturn is the second largest planet with a radius of 58,232 km, a diameter of 116,460 km, and a mass of 5.638x10^26kg Saturn takes 29 years to make an elliptical orbit the sun

Saturn’s axis is 26.73 degrees which are a similar degree’s tilt to Earth's 23.5 with respect to its orbit around the sun. This means that Saturn also experiences seasons. Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system and is lighter than water due to its large gassy outer layer Saturn’s average temperature is 178 degrees Celsius

Saturn has a ring system with different gaps and divisions between them and is made up of ice and rock, varying in size. They were also named after the first 7 letters of the alphabet. Saturn has 62 known moons orbiting and possibly at least 150 in total. Saturn’s most notable moon is Titan which is Saturn’s largest moon and is half the size of Earth.

Saturn is surrounded by a giant magnetic field and the material that enters it feeds Saturn’s giant E ring. Saturn has relatively weak radiation belts

Uranus

Uranus is a gaseous planet and is one of two ice giants in our solar system with 80% of it made up of water, ammonia, and methane Uranus has a radius of 25,362 km, a diameter of 50,724 km, and a mass of 8.681x10^25 kg Uranus takes 84 years to orbit Uranus orbits the sun on its side as its planetary axis is at 99 degrees As Uranus is an ice giant, it doesn’t have an actual surface so you wouldn’t be able to land on it

Its atmosphere is full of hydrogen and helium with traces of water, ammonia, and methane. The methane gives the planet its blueish color Uranus has 27 moons with the 5 most major being called Ariel, Miranda, Titania, Oberon, Umbriel Uranus has 2 sets of rings. The outer rings consist of a reddish ring and a blue ring like Saturn’s E ring. The inner rings consist of slimmer greyish rings Uranus has radiation belts like Saturn’s It's known to rain storms of diamonds on Uranus

Neptune

Neptune is a gaseous planet (smallest gas planet) and the other of two ice giants. 80% is made up of hot and dense fluids such as water, methane, and ammonia Neptune has a radius of 24,622km, a diameter of 49,244km, and a mass of 1.024x10^26kg Neptune’s orbit takes 165 years to orbit It is the furthest known planet from the sun

Neptune doesn’t have a solid surface so you can’t land on it Its atmosphere is made up of mostly hydrogen, helium, and methane Neptune’s color is a ‘bright azure blue which comes from its cloud tops Neptune’s axis tilt is 28.32 degrees and takes just under 16hours to rotate on its axis

Neptune has 14 moons with its largest moon Triton being found only 17 days after the planet’s discovery. It took another 100 years for the second moon to be discovered

Neptune has 5 rings and 4 prominent ring arcs known so far, the rings are named Galle, Leverrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams and they are thought to all be relatively young Neptune is known to forecast rain storms of solid diamonds

Earth

Earth is a terrestrial, rocky planet and its structure is made up of the crust, the mantel, the outer core, and the inner core Earth’s radius is 6,371km with a diameter of 12,742km and a mass of 5.972x10^24kg Earth takes 365 days to orbit and its elliptical is slightly oval shaped Earth's main surface features are land, water, and air with 7 large landmasses (continents)

Earth's atmospheric composition is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen 0.9% argon, and 0.1% of other gases Earth appears bluegreenbrown from outer space due to the sea, acres of forests, deserts, mountains Earth’s moon is called Moon and is the fifth largest and helps stabilize the planet and the hole of its surface is cratered from impacts Earths axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees and because of this axis we can experience seasons Earths Van Allen radiation belt surrounds the planet. It is a giant donut of a magnetic field with trapped energetically charged particles; solar wind

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Venus

Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system and is a terrestrial planet and is made of 96.5% carbon dioxide and 3.5% nitrogen Venus’s radius is 6,051km with a diameter of 12,104km and has a mass of 4.867x10^24kg

The planet takes 225 days to orbit and has the most circular orbit around the sun compared to every other planet Venus’ axial tilt is 177.3 degrees, so it’s only tilted 2.7 degrees from the plane of the epileptic. This also means that Venus is basically upside down and is the only planet to rotate backward compared to other planets

The surface is covered with craters, volcanos, mountains, and big lava pits From space, the planet is a bright white due to its clouds covering the surface which reflect the sunlight. On the surface the rocks are grey, however, the atmosphere makes everything look orange Venus doesn’t have any moons as it is thought that Venus is too close to the sun so any moon with such a distance to the sun would be destroyed

Venus’s temperature is about 900 Fahrenheit as it is surrounded by a very thick atmosphere. The sun's heat becomes trapped and it builds up high temperatures

Mars

Mars is a terrestrial planet and has a very thin atmosphere. It is made up of mostly silicon, iron, oxygen, and magnesium The planet's radius is 3,389.5km with a diameter of 6,779km and a mass of 6.39x10^23km

Mars’s orbit around the sun takes 687 days and is an elliptical orbit Mars axis tilt is like Earth being inclined at 25.19 degrees, so Mars also experiences seasons and temperature variations Its surface features are full of craters, valleys, and deserts

Mars’s surface appears reddish as there is rusty dust suspended in its atmosphere, however, closer it is more of a brown Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos and they are both irregularly shaped The planet's average temperature is -80 degrees Fahrenheit

Mars has no magnetosphere, so its atmosphere has slowly been stripped away by solar winds and this is also why the planet is exposed to high levels of radiation

Mercury

Mercury is a rocky planet and consists of about 30% silicate material and 70% metallic material Mercury is the smallest of the normal planets with a radius of 2,439.7km, a diameter of 4,879.4km, and a mass of 3.285x10^23kg

The planet's orbit around the sun takes 88 days and has a highly elliptical orbit. Mercury orbits closest to the sun and is affected by the distortion of spacetime produced by the sun's mass. Its axis is tilted at about 2 degrees, so it takes 59 days to rotate on its axis On Mercury’s surface there is a variety of craters, ridges, and terrains. This solid surface is similar to Earth's Moon

Mercury has a thin exosphere instead of an atmosphere which is created by a combination of atoms from solar wind and striking methods. The exosphere is made up of mostly hydrogen, sodium, helium, potassium, and oxygen The surface is a dark grey which is broken up in places due to the craters. Basically, different types of grey Like Venus, Mercury has no moons due to it being so close to the sun and due to its low sense of gravity it wouldn’t be able to hold onto a moon

Mercury receives 7x the Solar Irradiance Earth takes, however, due to Mercury’s large magnetosphere, harmful radiation can’t really reach the surface

Pluto

In 2006 Pluto was announced as a dwarf planet. The planet is composed of a mixture of frozen nitrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide ices Pluto is the largest object to be discovered in the Kuiper Belt and the planet's orbit is within the Kuiper Belt

Pluto takes 248 years to orbit the sun as its orbital path doesn’t lie in the same plane as the other 8 planets. Its orbit is more elliptical than the other planets Pluto’s axis is tilted at 57 degrees so it spins on its side and it takes about 6.4 days to complete a rotation Pluto’s surface is formatted of mountains, valleys, plains, and craters The temperature on Pluto can be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Pluto is made up of lots of different colors such as white, blue, orange, yellow Pluto has 5 moons with the largest being Charon sand it is so big that Charon and Pluto basically orbit one another like a double planet. Charon is half the size of Pluto