The Inner Planets

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    The inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are all inside the asteroid belt. They are closest to the sun.

Mercury

o   Planet Description: The atmosphere of Mercury is very thin and allows lots of heat during the day. It cools down quickly at night. Mercury is covered by craters. The largest of a crater is called the Calonis Basin.

o   Location Mercury is the first planet from the Sun.

o   Planet Facts:

·        Solar Distance Mercury is 57,910,000 km from the Sun.

·        Revolution Period 88 earth days

·        Rotation Period 58

·        Equatorial Diameter 4,880 km

·        Gravitational Pull .38 of Earth's gravity

·        Satellites None

Venus

o    Planet Description:  Venus is considered Earth's twin sister because of the similar size. It rotates in the opposite direction of Earth. It has very thick atmosphere. It is made up of 98% Carbon dioxide. Venus has a thick cloud layer that reflects the sunlight.

o    Location Venus is the second planet from the Sun

 o   Planet Facts:

·        Solar Distance Venus is 108,200,000 km from the sun.

·        Revolution Period 224.7 days

·        Rotation Period -5832.5 hours

·        Equatorial Diameter 12,104 km

·        Gravitational Pull .89 of Earth's gravity

·        Satellites None

Earth

o    Planet Desciption: Earth's atmosphere contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and less than 1% Carbon dioxide, argon and methane. The reflection of the ocean causes the sky to be blue. Earth is the only planet that contains vegetation and signs of life. 75% of Earth is covered with water.

o    Location Earth is the third planet from the Sun.

o    Planet Facts:

·        Solar Distance Earth is 149,600,000 km from the Sun.

·        Revolution Period 365.2 days

·        Rotation Period 23.9 hours

·        Equatorial Diameter 12,756

·        Gravitational Pull .98 (your current weight)

·        Satellites The Moon

Mars

o     Planet Description: Mars is a rocky planet. It's atmosphere is 95% Carbon dioxide. The temperature is too colds for water to exist. There are two pole on Mars. Both of them are a thin layer of ice. There is a large amount of iron giving the planet a reddish color. There is a gigantic canyon in Mars named Valles Marineris.

o    Location Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.

o    Planet Facts:

·        Solar Distance Mars is 227,940,000 km from the Sun.

·        Revolution Period 687 days

·        Rotation Period 24.6 hours

·        Equatorial Diameter 6794 km

·        Gravitational Pull .37 of Earth's gravity

·        Satellites Mars has 2 satellites and they are Phobos and Deimos

Sources: 

 http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/planetfact.html

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/mercury.htm

http://www.jimloy.com/astro/mercury.htm

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/mercury/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_(planet)

http://sciencepark.etacude.com/astronomy/venus.php

http://sciencepark.etacude.com/astronomy/venus.php

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/

http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/mars.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/mars/

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/mars.html

 

Images from:

http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/mercury.gif

http://ffm.junetz.de/astro/planeten/pictures/venus.jpg  

http://luzerne.free.fr/Points/images/earth-atlantic-800.jpg     

http://www.xtec.es/recursos/astronom/mars/mars.jpg   

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03622

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/mars/

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/venus/pvo_uv_790226.jpg

http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/mercury.html

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