Terrestrial and Jovian Planets
Each planet orbiting our sun is unique. Yet the four inner planets have much in common. Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are terrestrial or telluric planets. They are rocky with a dense metal core consisting mostly of iron.The four inner planets -- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars -- share several features in common. Astronomers call them the “terrestrial planets” because they have solid, rocky surfaces roughly similar to desert and mountainous areas on the earth.
The small inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) are composed mostly of silicate rocks and metals; the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are much larger, consist mostly of gaseous hydrogen and helium and ice, and have large systems of icy moons.
After Mars, there is an asteroid belt that separates the inner planets from the outer ones. The outer planets are called the jovian planets, meaning huge gas giant. These planets in order are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Inner Planets Facts. The inner planets of the solar system are also called terrestrial planets, and include Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They are mostly made up of silicate rock and metals and have solid surfaces. Earth is the only one of the inner planets to liquid oceans but some believe that Mars once did as well
The four inner planets have slower orbits, slower spin, no rings, and they are made of rock and metal. The four outer planets have faster orbits and spins, a composition of gases and liquids, numerous moons, and rings. The outer planets are made of hydrogen and helium, so they are called gas giants.
The outer planets are called the jovian planets, meaning huge gas giant. These planets in order are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto comes after Neptune, but it is no longer considered a planet.
The gas giants of our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These four large planets, also called jovian planets after Jupiter, reside in the outer part of the solar system past the orbits of Mars and the asteroid belt.
The four inner planets have slower orbits, slower spin, no rings, and they are made of rock and metal. The four outer planets have faster orbits and spins, a composition of gases and liquids, numerous moons, and rings. The outer planets are made of hydrogen and helium, so they are called gas giants.
The outer planets refers to the giant gas planets. Their orbits are outside the orbits of the terrestrial planets, beyond Mars. Greek term asters planetai mean "wandering stars." There were five of these wandering stars that were visible in the sky: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturns.
Venus' density and internal structure are similar to Earth's. But in other ways, Venus and Earth are very different. Venus rotates from east to west, the opposite direction from most other planets and moons. The pressure of Venus's atmosphere is 90 times greater than the pressure of Earth's atmosphere.
Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
- Mercury.
- Venus.
- Earth.
- Mars.
- Jupiter.
- Saturn.
- Uranus.
- Neptune.
What are the rocky planets?
- The four rocky planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
- They are the closest four planets to the Sun.
- They are made of rocks and metals.
- They have a solid surface and a core which is mainly made of iron.
- They are much smaller than the gas planets and rotate more slowly.
Yes, Uranus is really tilted on its side! Uranus has the largest tilt of any planet in our Solar System and it spins on its side. This means that one of Uranus' poles is often pointed towards the Sun, giving Uranus very long seasons. The rings of Uranus are also sideways compared to the rings of other planets.
The gas giants of our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These four large planets, also called jovian planets after Jupiter, reside in the outer part of the solar system past the orbits of Mars and the asteroid belt.
The temperature of the early solar system explains why the inner planets are rocky and the outer ones are gaseous. The inner planets are much smaller than the outer planets and because of this have relatively low gravity and were not able to attract large amounts of gas to their atmospheres.
The inner planets are much smaller than the outer planets and because of this have relatively low gravity and were not able to attract large amounts of gas to their atmospheres.
Planets shine in visible light only by reflected sunlight. So they can show phases. The inner (or inferior) planets show the full range of phases, and they can never be very far from the sun in the sky. More on phases of Venus (Mercury is similar).
Terrestrial planets are Earth-like planets made up of rocks or metals with a hard surface. Terrestrial planets also have a molten heavy-metal core, few moons and topological features such as valleys, volcanoes and craters.
Of the terrestrial (rocky) planets of the inner solar system, neither Mercury nor Venus have any moons at all, Earth has one and Mars has its two small moons. In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons.
The Moon formed from the cloud of debris that was left in orbit around the Earth. Others may have grown from a cloud of gas and dust that surrounded the giant planets when they were pulling in material. Most of the smaller moons are comets or asteroids that were captured when they passed too close to a large planet.
When the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.5 billion years ago, Mars formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is about half the size of Earth, and like its fellow terrestrial planets, it has a central core, a rocky mantle and a solid crust.
Because it has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, Pluto is considered a dwarf planet. It orbits in a disc-like zone beyond the orbit of Neptune called the Kuiper belt, a distant region populated with frozen bodies left over from the solar system's formation.
Called "Earth's Twin" because it is almost the size of Earth, Venus is surrounded by a thick, yellowish white, opaque atmosphere. The thick atmosphere traps the Sun's heat, producing a "greenhouse effect" that keeps the surface of Venus at a scorching 480° C, literally hot enough to fry eggs.
As the disk of gas and dust cooled, matter condensed, and planets formed through the process of accretion—dust grains collided with each other to form clumps, which in turn collided to form larger and larger bodies. Small objects in the solar system are known as planetesimals.
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, has a diameter of about 87,000 miles. (And even Jupiter is tiny compared to the Sun, which is roughly ten times wider than Jupiter, at about 864,000 miles.)
