The document provides information about the planets in our solar system. It begins by listing the planets in order from the Sun and providing a mnemonic device to remember them. It then gives data on Pluto's size. The rest of the document separates the planets into inner and outer planets and provides details about the characteristics and properties of each planet, including their composition, atmospheres, temperatures, and distances from the Sun. It notes that Pluto is now classified as a dwarf planet rather than a full planet due to its small size and eccentric orbit.

1. The Planets in our Solar System

2. The Planets
 Do you know a saying to remember the planets in
order?
 My Very Eager Mother Just Severed Us Nine Pizzas
 Do you know the planets in order?
 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars
 Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune
 Pluto (dwarf planet)

3. Solar System Data
Pluto 2,300

4. What do you know about the
planets?

5. Planet Sizes Relative to Each Other

6. Inner Planets
 Characteristics of the inner planets:
 “Terrestrial Planets”
 Rocky
 Dense (about five times denser than water)
 Metal cores (iron)
 Thin atmosphere
 The inner planets:
 Mercury
 Venus
 Earth
 Mars

7. Mercury
 Inner most planet
 Terrestrial planet
 “Iron Dwarf” for having a large iron
core and being only 38% the size
of Earth
 Thin Atmosphere: Some
Hydrogen, Helium, Oxygen
 Composition: Iron Core, Silicate
Surface
 Iron core is about the size of
Earth’s moon
 Hundreds of craters
 Sunlight Strength: 450-1040%
of Earth’s
 Highest and lowest surface
temps: 427°C to -173 °C

8. Venus
 Second planet from the Sun
 Terrestrial planet
 “Sister Planet” roughly the same size
and mass as Earth’s
 Thick Atmosphere: 96% Carbon
Dioxide
 Surface pressure 92 times
greater than Earth’s
 Clouds made of sulfuric acid
 Composition: Nickel-iron Core,
Silicate mantle, rocky crust
 Lots of volcanic features, but not
active.
 Sunlight Strength: 190% (cloud
tops), 5% (surface) of Earth’s
 Surface Temp: 464° C

9. Earth
 Third planet from the Sun
 Terrestrial planet
 200km Thick Atmosphere:
78% Nitrogen, 21%
Oxygen, 1% argon
 Composition: Nickel-iron
Core (inner core: solid &
outer core: liquid), Olivine
mantle (composed from
oxygen, magnesium and
silicon), rocky crust
 One moon

10. Mars
 Fourth planet from the Sun
 Terrestrial planet
 “Red Dwarf”
 Once covered with water
 Surface Pressure: 0.007 equivalent to the
cruising altitude of a plane
 Atmosphere: 95% Carbon Dioxide, 2.7%
Nitrogen, 1.6% Argon, and 0.7% other
gases
 Composition: Iron and iron sulfide core,
olivine and iron oxide mantle, rocky crust
 Craters in the south, volcanic features in
the north
 Lack of craters in the north suggest a much younger
region covered by lava flows.
 Sunlight Strength: 36-52% of Earth’s
 Surface Temp: -50°C to -123° C

11. The Outer Planets
 Characteristics of the outer planets:
 “Jovian Planets”
 Composed of mostly gases and ices
 No solid surface
 May have a solid core
 Most have rings
 Thick Tumultuous atmospheres - rapid winds, large storms
 The outer planets:
 Jupiter
 Saturn
 Uranus
 Neptune
 Pluto (dwarf planet)

12. Jupiter
 Fifth planet from the Sun
 Jovian planet
 “Goliath planet”
 Five main rings
 Atmosphere: 90% Hydrogen and 10%
Helium
 Three separate clouds layers of ammonia
ice, ammonium hydrosulfide ice, and water
ice.
 The atmosphere blends seamlessly with the
outer core.
 Composition: Liquid molecular hydrogen
and helium outer mantle, liquid metallic
hydrogen inner mantle, and ice and rock
core
 Core pressure is about 100 million atmospheres
 A very powerful magnetic field that extends
all the way to Saturn’s Orbit.
 Sunlight Strength: 3-4% of Earth’s

13. Saturn
 Sixth planet from the Sun
 Jovian planet
 “Ringed Giant”
 Seven main rings
 Atmosphere: 96% Hydrogen and 4%
Helium
 Clouds on Saturn the same as
Jupiter’s but can twice a deep as
Jupiter’s.
 Composition: Liquid hydrogen (outer
mantle), Liquid metallic hydrogen
(inner mantle), ice (outer core) and
rock (inner core)
 Most oblate planet with visible
bulges at the equator
 Sunlight strength: 1% of Earth’s
 Powerful magnetic field (600 times

14. Uranus
 Seventh planet from the Sun
 Jovian planet
 “Blue Giant”
 Eleven thin rings
 Atmosphere: 83% Hydrogen, 15% Helium and
2% Methane
 Only one cloud layer of methane has been
detected. Below this layer it is believed to
have clouds similar to Saturn and Jupiter
 Composition: Liquid hydrogen and other
elements (outer mantle), slushy layer of icy
compounds of water, methane, and ammonia
(inner mantle), and an icy & rocky (core)
 Red light is absorbed by methane, which is
why this planet is blue-green in color
 Sunlight strength: 1% of Earth’s
 Powerful magnetic field (50 times that of
Earth’s)
 Axial inclination of 97.8° (sideways compared to
other planets)

15. Neptune
 Eighth planet from the Sun
 Jovian planet
 “Blue Colossus”
 Five main rings
 Atmosphere: 79% Hydrogen, 18% Helium
and 3% Methane
 Dynamic atmosphere with a main clouds of
methane ice crystals.
 Composition: Hydrogen and other elements
mixed into an icy liquid (outer mantle),
slushy mixture rich in water, methane, and
ammonia (inner mantle), and an icy & rocky
(core)
 Orbit is almost perfectly circular
 Sunlight strength: 0.1% of Earth’s
 Visually the sun would be 900 times fainter
than how we see it on Earth
 Axial inclination of 97.8° (sideways compared
to other planets)

16. Poor Pluto
 What have you heard about Pluto?
 Why is it different than the other planets?
 Why is it now technically not a planet?

17. Pluto
 Little is know, but best guess is
that 70% of the planet is rock and
ice makes up the other 30% of the
planet.
 The picture to the right is the
highest resolution picture of Pluto
known at this time.
 67% of the diameter of the moon.
 Elongated and inclined orbit
different than the other planets
 Member of the Kuiper Belt
 Kuiper belt is a belt of icy planet
building leftovers
 NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft
launched in early 2006 is
expected to reach Pluto in 2015.