Terrestrial Planets Flashcards
terrestrial planets have relatively ___ masses.
a) low
b) high
a) low
which type of planet is closest to sun
terrestrial
what are terrestrial planets made of
rocky, mostly heavy elements, high density
radius and distance from sun of mercury
40% of earth radius and 0.4 AU from sun
mercury year length and rotation
88 days and rotation takes 58.8
mercury axis
perpendicular to orbit
what planet is cratered
mercury
when is mercury visible
sunrise/sunset
mercury temperature and atmosphere
most extreme temperature range due to slow rotation and lack of atmosphere
450 C during day, -150 during night.
venus nickname
morning/evening star
venus size and distance from sun
95% of earths size, 0.72 AU from sun
venus year and roation
1 year = 225 days and rotation is slow and retrograde taking 244 days.
appearance of venus
full cloud cover looks blue but surface under is reddish (blue scattered)
venus temperature and atmosphere
470 C, atmosphere is thick made of 96% carbon dioxide with some nitrogen and sulfuric acid and has strong greenhouse effect with little erosion (not much rain and wind).
mars radius and distance from sun
radius almost half of earths, 1.5 AU from sun
mars year length and day length
678 day for 1 year, 24 hours for 1 day.
mars temperature and axis
coldest at poles (~-100 C), rages from -70 C to 10 C and axis tilted allowing for seasons (mostly cold)
mars color
reddish from rusting minerals
mars interior
not much known, probably geologically inactive
mars surface features
large volcanos (20 km tall olympus mons)
tharsis bulge
icy carbon dioxide-water polar caps
mars atmosphere
thin, 95% carbon dioxide, 1% atmospheric pressure of earths
water on mars
was there in past but now only liquid underground and on surface theres only frozen water at the poles and in some craters, winding canyons similar to some on earth suggesting water flow in past.
