CHAPTER 7: PLANETARY FACTS (MAJOR PLANETS)
dormant for billions of years.
The planets fall into 2 categories:
 Terrestrial planets (Inner Planets)
Including Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars – these
planets are closest to the Sun. They are
characterized by their dense, rocky composition.
 Gas Giants (Outer Planets)
Including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune – these
planets are found in the outer solar system. They
are characterized by their massiveness and gaseous
composition.
MERCURY
• Mercury has been known to humanity since
ancient times, and although its discovery date is
unknown, the first mentions of the planet are
believed to be around 3000 BC by the
Sumerians.
• Mercury is often identified with the Greek god
Hermes, the messenger of the gods in Roman
mythology.
• Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar
System with a diameter of 4,879 km (3,031
miles).
• The orbital speed of Mercury is 47.8 km/sec
(29.7 miles/sec).
• Mercury has no atmosphere and no known
satellites, perhaps because of its proximity to
the Sun.
• Mercury has no moons or rings.
• Mercury orbits the sun once every 87.97 Earth
Days.
• A day on Mercury is equivalent to 176 Earth
Days.
• Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, the
maximum distance from the Sun = 70 million
km (43.5 million miles).
• Mercury’s minimum distance from Earth = 77
million km (48 million miles).
• Mercury is known as a terrestrial planet
consisting of about 70% metallic and 30%
silicate material
• First it was Copernicus who noticed orbiting
planet in the early 16th century; and then
Galileo was the first to observe Mercury during
the 17th century.
• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Mercury
would be 38 lbs. (Multiply your actual weight
by 0.38).
• The surface of the planet is covered in craters
much like those seen on Earth’s moon. This is a
sign that Mercury has been geologically
• The planet makes three complete rotations on
its axis per every two orbital revolutions.
• The surface temperature of Mercury ranges
from -173 to 427°C. (-279 to 800°F).
• Mercury is the second densest planet after
Earth.
• Mercury is only the second hottest planet.
• It’s orbit is an ellipse, rather than circular.
• Does not experience any season.
• Mercury’s interior is composed of crust,
mantle, and core.
• Has a high eccentricity.
• Mercury’s surface is much hotter at perihelion
than at aphelion.
• Has a thin atmosphere.
• Mercury's atmosphere contains small amounts
of hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. It also has
even tinier amounts of sodium, potassium,
calcium, and magnesium
VENUS
• The orbital speed of Venus is 35 km per
second (78,292 mi/hr)
• Maximum distance of Venus from the Sun
is 109 million km (68 million miles)
• Minimum distance of Venus from the Earth
is 40 million km (25 million miles)
• Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar
System.
• Venus is one of the brightest objects in the
sky, next to the Sun and Moon.
• It takes 243 days for Venus to rotate on its
axis. And a year in Venus is equivalent to
224 earth days.
• Venus’ eccentricity is .00678, its orbit is
circular.
• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Venus
would be 88 lbs. (multiply your actual
weight by 0.88)
• Aside from planet Earth, Venus is the most
explored planet.
• The clouds surrounding Venus are
comprised mostly of sulfuric acid.
• Planet Venus is named after the Roman
goddess of love and beauty.
 • Venus is the second closest planet to the
Sun.
• The diameter of Venus is 12,100 km (7,522
miles).
• The interior of Venus is composed of a
central iron core and a molten rocky
mantle, similar to the composition of Earth.
• The surface of Venus is very dry with flat
plains, highland regions, and depressions.
• Venus is the sixth largest planet in the Solar
System.
• The atmosphere of Venus is primarily
composed of carbon dioxide (96%) and
nitrogen (3%), with traces of other gases
and little to no water vapor.
• Similar in size, density, and mass, Venus and
Earth often referred to as sister planets.
• It rotates from East to West.
• Venus has a mountain named Maat Mon
that is more than 5 miles high (26,400 feet).
• Venus has an atmospheric pressure that is
92 times that of planet Earth.
EARTH
• The Earth is around 4.6 billion years old
according to scientists.
• Earth is derived from the Old English word
“ertha” and the Anglo-Saxon word “erda”
which means ground or soil.
• The Earth’s atmosphere is composed mainly
of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), argon
(.93%), and carbon dioxide (0.03%).
• Earth’s atmosphere divided in 5 sections
from the surface: Troposphere (0-13 km),
Ozone Layer (13-25 km), Stratosphere (25-
50 km), Mesosphere (50-75 km), and
Thermosphere (75-150 km).
• Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar
System.
• The gravity between the Earth and Moon
causes the tides on Earth.
• The Diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km
(7,926 miles).
• The earth’s orbital speed is 29.8 km per
second (66,660 mi/hr).
• Earth has only one satellite, the Moon. The
Moon is the second brightest object in the
sky from Earth.
• A year on Earth last just over 365 days.
• The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar
System.
• Its axis of rotation is tilted 23.4º.
• Earth has an average surface temperature
of 13°C (55.4°F).
• The Earth is not perfectly round, rather it is
an oblate spheroid. This is due to the
planet’s equatorial bulge.
• Earth’s distance from the Sun – Min. 146
million km (91million miles) Max. 152
million km (94.5 million miles).
• It takes about 8 minutes and 19 seconds for
light to reach the planet from the Sun.
• Earth is composed of: iron (32%), oxygen
(30%), silicon (15%), magnesium (14%),
sulfur (3%), nickel (2%), calcium (1.5%),
aluminum (1.4%) and the remainder made
up of other elements.
• Earths main tectonic plates: African plate,
Antarctic plate, Indo-Australian Plate,
Eurasian Plate, North American Plate, South
American Plate, and the Pacific Plate.
• Earth has several layers with unique
chemical and seismic properties: Crust (0-40
km), upper mantle (40-400 km), transition
region (400-650 km), lower mantle (650-
2700 km), D layer (2700-2890 km), outer
core (2890-5150 km), and the inner core
(5150-6378 km) from the surface.
• The magnetic poles of the Earth gradually
flip flop about every 200,000 to 300,000
years.
• The deepest spot on Earth is under the
ocean in the Mariana Trench at 35,813 feet
below sea level.
• Oceans cover about 70% of the Earth’s
surface, much of which has never been
explored.
MARS
• Known as the Red Planet, Mars is
characterized by its red, dusty landscape.
• Named after the god of war in Roman
mythology (Ares).
• The atmosphere on Mars is very thin,
composed mainly of carbon dioxide (95%),
nitrogen (2.7%), and argon (1.6%), with
traces of oxygen and water.
• The orbital speed of Mars is 24.2 km per
second (54,133 mi/hr).
• Temperatures on Mars vary from 0°C (32°F)
to -100°C (-148°F).
 • The diameter of the planet Mars is 6,785
km.
• A Mars year is equal to 686.98 Earth Days.
• A day in Mars is equal to 24.6 Earth Hours.
• Mars is 35 million miles from Earth.
• Mars maximum distance from the Sun = 249
million km (155 million miles).
• Mars’ axial tilt is 25º.
• Mars has two small satellites named Phobos
and Deimos which was discovered by Asaph
Hall in August 1877.
• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Mars
would be 38 lbs. (multiply your actual
weight by 0.38).
• Just like Earth, both of Mars’ poles are
blanketed in ice.
• Of all the volcanoes in the Solar System,
Mars has the tallest. It is named Olympus
Mons and it stands at 21 km high, or three
times that of Mount Everest.
JUPITER
• Jupiter, sometimes called Jove, was the King
of the gods in Roman mythology and the
son of Saturn.
• The first sighting of Jupiter were by ancient
Babylonians in around 7th or 8th BC.
• Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar
system with a mean diameter of 139,822
km (86,881 miles).
• Jupiter’s mass is 318 times larger than
Earth. The diameter is 11 times, volume is
1,321 times, and surface area is 122 times
of Earth.
• The orbital speed of Jupiter is 13.1 km/sec.
• A year on Jupiter is equal to 11.9 Earth
Years.
• A day on Jupiter is equal to 9.8 Earth Hours.
• Jupiter’s axial tilt is 3.17º.
• Jupiter’s maximum distance from the Sun =
817 million km (508 million miles).
• Jupiter’s minimum distance from Earth =
588 million km (365 million miles).
• Jupiter is the fourth brightest object in our
solar system.
• Has 67 confirmed moons orbiting the
planets.
• Jupiter has sixty three moons or satellites,
eight are regular and 55 irregular.
• Jupiter’s four largest moons are named: Io,
Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.
• Ganymede moon is the largest in the Solar
System larger than the planet Mercury.
• Jupiter has rings, the third planet
discovered to have a ring system in our
Solar System.
• Jupiter’s rings are identified as: Halo ring,
Main ring, Amalthea gossamer ring, and
Thebe gossamer ring.
• Jupiter’s rings were discovered by Voyager
1 in 1979.
• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Jupiter
would be 236 lbs. (multiply your actual
weight by 2.36).
• The volume of Jupiter is great enough to
hold 1,300 Earths.
• The rotation of Jupiter is the fastest of any
planet in the Solar System, making its days
only 10 hours long.
• The large red spot on Jupiter is actually
from a storm that has lasted over 300 years.
• Jupiter’s Atmosphere is made up
predominantly of hydrogen. The simple,
basic gas, a prime ingredient on the sun,
accounts for 90 percent of the atmosphere.
Nearly 10 percent is composed of helium.
• A very small fraction of the atmosphere is
made up of compounds such as ammonia,
sulfur, methane, and water vapor.
Aurora of Jupiter
• A stunning electric blue whirl, which is
actually ultraviolet.
SATURN
• Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and
the second largest.
• Saturn was named after the god of
agriculture in Roman mythology.
• Saturn’s fame has been observed going
back to ancient times, the Babylonians,
Romans, Greek, Hindus, and many more
ancient civilizations have taken great
interest in studying this ringed planet.
• Saturn is flattened at the poles, due to a
fast rotation on its axis.
• A year on Saturn is equal to 29.5 Earth
Years.
• A day on Saturn is equal to 10 hours and 14
minutes in Earth days.
• Saturn’s axial tilt is 26.73º.
 • Diameter of Saturn is 119,871 km (74,500
miles).
• Saturn’s maximum distance from the Sun is
1.5 billion km (938 million miles).
• Saturn’s minimum distance from Earth is 1.2
billion km (746 million miles).
• Saturn is the only planet in our solar system
that is less dense that water.
• Saturn’s rings are made primarily of “water
ice” mixed with dust and other chemicals.
• Saturn has fourteen subdivisions of its rings,
the widest is at 25,500 km, the B ring.
• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on Saturn
would be 108 lbs. (multiply your actual
weight by 1.08).
• The temperature on Saturn by the clouds is
at -274° F.
• Saturn has 62 known moons, fifty-three
have been named. Most of them are small
in size.
• Names of some of Saturn’s moons: the
largest is Titan, discovered in 1655; Tethys,
Dione, Rhea, & Iapetus, discovered from
1671 to 1672; Mimas & Enceladus,
discovered in 1789; and Hyperion,
discovered in 1848.
• Titan is Saturn's only moon that has an
atmosphere, it is also bigger than Mercury.
• The day of the week, Saturday, is named
after Saturn.
• Saturn's atmosphere is approximately 75%
hydrogen and 25% helium with traces of
other substances like methane and water
ice. Saturn's atmosphere, although similar
to Jupiter's, is much less interesting to look
at from a distance.
URANUS
• Uranus is named after the Greek god of the
sky. Uranus was the husband of Gaia, the
goddess of the Earth.
• It was discovered in December 13, 1781 by
William Herschel, a German-born British
astronomer.
• The orbital speed of Uranus is 6.6 km/sec
(14,763 mi/hr).
• Uranus is the third largest planet by
diameter, yet fourth most massive.
• The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of
hydrogen, helium, and methane.
• The methane in the atmosphere absorbs
red light, giving the planet a blue-green
color.
• The planet is the second least dense after
Saturn.
• Spins from east to west, which is opposite
from the spin of Earth.
• A day on Uranus is equal to 17 hours and 14
minutes on Earth.
• It takes Uranus 84 Earth days to orbit the
Sun.
• Uranus’ axis is tilted almost 98º.
• Uranus’ orbital eccentricity is 0.0473,
making it the fourth most circular orbit of
all the planets.
• Uranus maximum distance from the Sun is 3
billion km (1.88 billion miles).
• Uranus minimum distance from the Earth is
2.6 billion km (1.6 billion miles).
• The diameter of Uranus is 51,488 km
(32,000 miles).
• The 27 moons of Uranus are named after
characters created by William Shakespeare
and Alexander Pope.
• William Herschel identified Titania and
Oberon in 1787, these are the first two
moons of Uranus that were discovered.
• Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and
Oberon are the main satellites of Uranus.
• Uranus has 13 unique rings. They are
named using Greek symbols and other
numerical values: 1986U2R/ζ, 6, 5, 4, α, β,
η, γ, δ, λ, ε, ν, and μ.
• Uranium, the chemical element, is named
after the planet Uranus by Martin Heinrich
Klaproth, a German chemist, in 1789.
• If you weigh 100 lbs on earth, your weight
on Uranus would be 89 lbs. (multiply your
actual weight by 0.89).
• Uranus is the coldest of the planets even
though Neptune is located further from the
Sun.
NEPTUNE
• Neptune is the fourth largest planet in the
Solar System with respect to diameter and
the third largest planet in terms of mass.
• Neptune was discovered by Urbaine Le
Verrier, John Couch Adams, and Johann
Galle on September 23, 1846.
• The blue color of the planet is due to the
absorption of red light by methane in the
atmosphere.

• Orbital speed of Neptune is 5.4 km/second.

• The diameter of Neptune is 49,493 km.

• One Neptune day is equal to 16 hours in

Earth time.

• One Neptune year is equal to 164.83 Earth

Years.

• Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun.

• Neptune’s orbital eccentricity is .0097. Its

orbit is very close to being circular.

• Its axial tilt is 28.3º.

• Neptune’s maximum distance from the Sun

– 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles).

• Neptune’s minimum distance from Earth –

4.3 billion km (2.7 billion miles).

• Neptune's atmosphere is composed up of

many gases. These gases include Hydrogen
(80%), Helium (19%), and a trace amount of
Methane.

• Neptune has 13 moons, the largest of which

is named Triton. The other moons are:
Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa,
Proteus, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia,
Neso, and Psamathe.

• Neptune has five main rings, they are

named after the people who had been
doing work on the planet; the rings are:
Halle, Le Verrier, Lassell, Arago, and Adams.

• If you weigh 100 lbs, your weight on

Neptune would be 113 lbs. (multiply your
actual weight by 1.13).

• Neptune was the very first planet to be

located using mathematics rather than
observation.

• The planet is never capable of being seen by

the naked eye.
 DWARF PLANETS FACTS ERIS

CERES

Diameter: 950 km Diameter: 2,326 km

Mass: 8.96 × 10^20 kg (0.01 Mass: 1.66 × 10^22 kg (0.23

Moons) Moons)

Orbit Distance: 413,700,000 km (2.8 Orbit Distance: 10,120,000,000 km (68.01

AU) AU)

Orbit Period: 1,680 days (4.6 years)

Orbit Period: 560.9 years

Surface Temperature: -105°C Surface Temperature: -231°C

Moons: 1 (Dysnomia)

Moons: None Discovery Date: January 5th 2005

Discovery Date: 1st January 1801 Discovered By: M.E. Brown C.A. Trujillo &
D.L. Rabinowitz
Discovered By: Giuseppe Piazzi
HEUMEA

PLUTO
Equatorial Diameter: 1,960 km to 1,518 km

Diameter: 2,372 km
Polar Diameter: 996 km
Mass: 4.01 × 10^21 kg (0.05
Moons)
Mass: 1.31 × 10^22 kg (0.17 Moons)
Orbit Distance: 6,452,000,000 km
(43.13 AU)
Orbit Distance: 5,874,000,000 km (39.26 AU)
Orbit Period: 283.3 years
Surface Temperature: -241°C
Orbit Period: 248.0 years
Moons: 2 (Hi’iaka & Namaka)
Surface Temperature: -229°C Discovery Date: 28th December 2004
Discovered By: (Disputed) Mike Brown
Moons: 5 (Charon) & team or José Luis Ortiz
Moreno & team
Discovery Date: February 18th 1930

Discovered By: Clyde W. Tombaugh

PLUTO’s 5 known moons.

The moons are Charon (discovered in 1978,) Hydra
and Nix (both discovered in 2005), Kerberos
originally P4 (discovered 2011) and Styx originally
P5 (discovered 2012)
Discovery Date: February 18th 1930
Discovered By: Clyde W. Tombaugh
MAKEMAKE

• A world nicknamed "Easterbunny" by its

discoverers before officially getting named Equatorial 1,434 km
Diameter:
after the Polynesian creator of humanity
and the god of fertility. Polar Diameter: 1,422 km
Mass: 2-5 × 10^21 kg (0.04 Moons)
• Makemake is a type of icy dwarf planet
known as a plutoid. Orbit Distance: 6,850,000,000 km (45.79 AU)

Orbit Period: 309.9 years

Surface -239°C
Temperature:
Moons: 1 (MK 2 - S/2015 (136472) 1)
Discovery Date: March 31st 2005
Discovered By: Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo &
David Rabinowitz
SUMMARY

Name Diameter Distance from the Sun Orbit Period

Ceres 950 km 413,700,000 km (2.77 AU) 4.6 years

Pluto 2,372 km 5,874,000,000 km (39.26 AU) 248.0 years

Haumea 1,960 km - 1,518 km × 996 6,452,000,000 km (43.13 AU) 283.3 years

km

Makemake 1,434 km × 1,422 km 6,850,000,000 km (45.79 AU) 309.9 years

Eris 2,326 km 10,120,000,000 km (68.01 AU) 560.9 years

 COMETS, METEORS AND ASTEROID FACTS
COMETS
• Comets are icy bodies in space that release
gas or dust. They are often compared to
dirty snowballs.
• Comets contain dust, ice, carbon dioxide,
ammonia, methane and more.
FAMOUS COMETS
• HALLEY'S COMET is likely the most
famous comet in the world, even
depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry that
chronicled the Battle of Hastings of 1066
discovered by Edmond Halley.
• It becomes visible to the naked eye every
76 years when it nears the sun.
• HALE-BOPP, which came within 122
million miles (197 million km) of Earth in
1997. Its unusually large nucleus gave off
a great deal of dust and gas — estimated
at roughly 18 to 25 miles (30 to 40 km)
across — appeared bright to the naked
eye.
• Hale–Bopp was discovered on July 23,
1995, separately by Alan Hale and
Thomas Bopp
• COMET ISON is a sungrazing comet
discovered on 21 September 2012 by Vitaly
Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok.
ASTEROIDS
• Rocky worlds revolving around the sun
that are too small to be called planets.
They are also known as planetoids or
minor planets.
• The mass of all the asteroids is less than
that of Earth's moon.
• Asteroids are leftovers from the
formation of our solar system about 4.6
billion years ago.
• Asteroids can reach as large as Ceres,
which is 940 kilometers (about 583 miles)
across
• The surfaces of most asteroids are
thought to be covered in dust.
• As asteroids revolve around the sun in
elliptical orbits, they rotate, sometimes
tumbling quite erratically.
• The average temperature of the surface
of a typical asteroid is minus 100 degrees
Fahrenheit (minus 73 degrees Celsius).
• Asteroids come in a variety of shapes and
sizes. Some are solid bodies, while others
are smaller piles of rubble bound
together by gravity.
• Asteroids lie within three regions of the
solar system.
• Most asteroids lie in a vast ring between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
• This main asteroid belt holds more than
200 asteroids larger than 60 miles (100
km) in diameter.
• Many asteroids lie outside the main belt.
Trojan asteroids orbit a larger planet in
two special places, known as Lagrange
points, where the gravitational pull of the
sun and the planet are balanced.
• Trojan asteroids orbit a larger planet in
two special places, known as Lagrange
points, where the gravitational pull of the
sun and the planet are balanced.
• Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) circle closer
to Earth than the sun.
• Amor asteroids have close orbits that
approach but no not cross Earth's path,
according to NASA.
• Apollo asteroids have Earth-crossing
orbits but spend most of their time
outside the planet's path.
• Aten asteroids also cross Earth's orbit but
spend most of their time inside Earth's
orbit.
• Atira asteroids are near-Earth asteroids
whose orbits are contained within Earth's
orbit
• ASTEROIDS FALL INTO THREE CLASSES
BASED ON COMPOSITION:
• The C-type or carbonaceous asteroids are
grayish in color and are the most
common, including more than 75 percent
of known asteroids. They probably consist
of clay and stony silicate rocks, and
inhabit the main belt's outer regions.
• The S-type or silicaceous asteroids are
greenish to reddish in color, account for
about 17 percent of known asteroids, and
dominate the inner asteroid belt. They
appear to be made of silicate materials
and nickel-iron.
• The M-type or metallic asteroids are
reddish in color, make up most of the rest
of the asteroids, and dwell in the middle
region of the main belt. They seem to be
made up of nickle-iron.
 • When an asteroid, or a part of it, crashes known as a meteorite. Meteorites are
into Earth, it's called a METEORITE. usually categorized as iron or stony.

How do meteors differ from meteorites?

• If a meteoroid enters the Earth's

METEORITES
• Every asteroid or meteoroid that survives
its passage through Earth's atmosphere
(and this is the rare exception) can be
advanced to be called a meteorite.
• Meteorites are made of rock (stony
meteorites), metal (iron meteorites) or a
mixture of these two materials (stony-
iron meteorites or pallasites).
atmosphere and vaporizes, it becomes a
meteor, which is often called a shooting
star.
• If a small asteroid or large meteoroid
survives its fiery passage through the
Earth's atmosphere and lands on Earth's
surface, it is then called a meteorite.
• They range in size from dust to around 10
metres in diameter.

3 MAIN TYPES OF METEORITES: METEOROID

• Stony meteorites are rocks, mainly
composed of silicate minerals; iron
meteorites that are largely composed of
metallic iron-nickel; and, stony-iron
meteorites or pallasite that contain large
amounts of both metallic and rocky
material.
Here are typical compositions:
• Iron meteorites
• Iron: 91 percent
• Meteoroids are all the smaller objects in
orbit around the Sun. Most of them
originate from comets that lose gas and
dust when they approach the Sun.
• Other meteoroids are basically small
asteroids.
• The smallest and by far the most
numerous ones have sizes of small dust
particles and are called micrometeoroids;
they do not leave any visible trace behind
when they enter the Earth's atmosphere.

• Nickel: 8.5 percent

• Cobalt: 0.6 percent

• Stony meteorites

• Oxygen: 6 percent

• Iron: 26 percent

• Silicon: 18 percent

• Magnesium: 14 percent

• Aluminum: 1.5 percent

• Nickel: 1.4 percent

• Calcium: 1.3 percent

METEOR

• A bright streak of light in the sky (a

"shooting star" or a "falling star")
produced by the entry of a small
meteoroid into the Earth's atmosphere.

• A meteor is an asteroid or other object

that burns and vaporizes upon entry into
the Earth's atmosphere; meteors are
commonly known as "shooting stars." If a
meteor survives the plunge through the
atmosphere and lands on the surface, it's