Solar System
Our Solar System is made up of a star (the sun) eight planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune) comets, asteroids, space rocks, ice and several dwarf planets.
Each planet is a different distance away from the Sun. In ascending order, Mercury is 57,909,175 km away from the sun, Venus is 108,208,930km, Earth is 149,597,890km, Mars is 227,936,640km, Jupiter is 778,412,010km, Saturn is 1,426,725,400km, Uranus is 2,870,972,200km and Neptune is 4,498,252,900km away from the sun.
Some planets in our Solar System are gaseous planets meaning that the planet is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter and some are terrestrial planets meaning that the planet has a rocky surface. Four planets in our Solar System are terrestrial and the other four are gaseous. These gaseous planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and the terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Each planet is a different size from the other. Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System with a diameter of 4,878km while Jupiter is the largest planet with a diameter of 142,800km. Venus and Earth are a similar size with only 652km diameter difference. Mars is the second smallest planet with a diameter of 6,787km. Uranus and Neptune have a 2,600km diameter difference with Uranus being the larger of the two. Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System with a diameter of 120,000km.
Each planet is a different distance away from the Sun. In ascending order, Mercury is 57,909,175 km away from the sun, Venus is 108,208,930km, Earth is 149,597,890km, Mars is 227,936,640km, Jupiter is 778,412,010km, Saturn is 1,426,725,400km, Uranus is 2,870,972,200km and Neptune is 4,498,252,900km away from the sun.
Some planets in our Solar System are gaseous planets meaning that the planet is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter and some are terrestrial planets meaning that the planet has a rocky surface. Four planets in our Solar System are terrestrial and the other four are gaseous. These gaseous planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, and the terrestrial planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
Each planet is a different size from the other. Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System with a diameter of 4,878km while Jupiter is the largest planet with a diameter of 142,800km. Venus and Earth are a similar size with only 652km diameter difference. Mars is the second smallest planet with a diameter of 6,787km. Uranus and Neptune have a 2,600km diameter difference with Uranus being the larger of the two. Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System with a diameter of 120,000km.
Venus
Venus is the hottest planet. The minimum temperature on Venus is 220°C, the maximum temperature is 420°C and the average temperature is 480°C. Venus is a similar size to earth. Venus’ diameter is 12,100 km across and has a mass of 4.868x1024kg, which is 0.82 times Earths mass.
Venus is thought to have a core made of iron with a diameter of 3000km. The mantle around the core takes up most of the planet. It’s made of hot, molten rock. The outside layer is a strong, thick crust. It is one complete hard piece and is mainly between 25 and 40km thick; made of hard, reddish-brown rock. However, in many places there are cracks, which formed when parts of the crust pushed on each other. Where these cracks are, lava can escape up from the mantle, making volcanoes and other features. The atmosphere of Venus is thick; made mostly of carbon dioxide gas, this is what makes Venus hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. Venus contains almost no water in the atmosphere. It has a very high pressure being 90 times the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. Space probes which have landed on Venus have only lasted a few hours before being crushed by the atmosphere. Extremely thick clouds cover the whole planet. That is why Venus looks very bright to us because the clouds reflect the sunlight. Winds in the highest clouds reach 350km/h; faster than a hurricane on Earth. However the winds on surface of Venus are slow.
Venus actually rotates so slowly that it orbits the sun faster than its own rotation on its own axis. Meaning, that a year on Venus is longer than the day and night. It rotates from east to west.
The force of the gravity on Venus is slightly less than that on Earth, so an object weighing 100 pounds on earth would weigh about 89 pounds on Venus.
Venus is visible to the naked eye and has therefore been seen and known about since ancient times. Therefore we don’t know who the first human being to see it was. The earliest record of observing Venus was around 1581 BC.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei was first to observe that Venus had a visible disk and that it had phases like the moon so perhaps he could be considered to have discovered the modern Venus.
Venus is a very interesting planet.
Did you know that:
The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Venus is one of hottest planets in the Solar System.
It 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.
Venus is the closest planet to a twin of Earth.
We can see Venus cross the sun, like we did at the end of last term.
Venus has been visited by 20 space crafts.
It is believed that Venus once had large amounts of water like Earth but it all melted away. Now, much of Venus’ surface is covered with lava.
Venus is thought to have a core made of iron with a diameter of 3000km. The mantle around the core takes up most of the planet. It’s made of hot, molten rock. The outside layer is a strong, thick crust. It is one complete hard piece and is mainly between 25 and 40km thick; made of hard, reddish-brown rock. However, in many places there are cracks, which formed when parts of the crust pushed on each other. Where these cracks are, lava can escape up from the mantle, making volcanoes and other features. The atmosphere of Venus is thick; made mostly of carbon dioxide gas, this is what makes Venus hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. Venus contains almost no water in the atmosphere. It has a very high pressure being 90 times the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. Space probes which have landed on Venus have only lasted a few hours before being crushed by the atmosphere. Extremely thick clouds cover the whole planet. That is why Venus looks very bright to us because the clouds reflect the sunlight. Winds in the highest clouds reach 350km/h; faster than a hurricane on Earth. However the winds on surface of Venus are slow.
Venus actually rotates so slowly that it orbits the sun faster than its own rotation on its own axis. Meaning, that a year on Venus is longer than the day and night. It rotates from east to west.
The force of the gravity on Venus is slightly less than that on Earth, so an object weighing 100 pounds on earth would weigh about 89 pounds on Venus.
Venus is visible to the naked eye and has therefore been seen and known about since ancient times. Therefore we don’t know who the first human being to see it was. The earliest record of observing Venus was around 1581 BC.
In 1610, Galileo Galilei was first to observe that Venus had a visible disk and that it had phases like the moon so perhaps he could be considered to have discovered the modern Venus.
Venus is a very interesting planet.
Did you know that:
The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty.
Venus is one of hottest planets in the Solar System.
It 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.
Venus is the closest planet to a twin of Earth.
We can see Venus cross the sun, like we did at the end of last term.
Venus has been visited by 20 space crafts.
It is believed that Venus once had large amounts of water like Earth but it all melted away. Now, much of Venus’ surface is covered with lava.