Comparing Joovian And Terrestrial Planets

The birth of our universe occurred about 14 billion years ago in an event called the Big Bang, when the early universe was a dense, hot mass containing only hydrogen and helium. Our own solar system that we call home is about 4.6 billion years old so roughly 1/3 of the age of our total universe. There are two types of planets within our solar system and we split them into two distinct categories terrestrial and jovian due mainly to their composition. The terrestrial planets are the inner most planets closest to the the sun; mercury, venus, earth and mars. These terrestrial plants are much smaller than the Jovian planets although they have a much higher density because they are composed of mostly rock and metal. Terrestrial planets have solid surfaces and much warmer temperatures due to their close proximity to the sun, but theses planets tend to have very few if any moons. The Jovian planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, on the other hand are much larger …show more content…
The size of the planet makes life possible especially when it comes to the plate tectonics of earths lithosphere and its magnetic field. Plate tectonics is important for life which has allowed for long term climate stability and due to earths size proper convection and recycling of rock has allowed for this process to continue to shape and change the planet. Earth’s magnetic field is powerful and has allowed for a dominant atmosphere to be present but the reason it is so strong is due to earths size and the large liquid iron-nickel outer core located in the interior of the earth. This molten layer projects a strong magnetic field which protects the atmosphere and the life on the surface the planet. If the planet was smaller, the core proportionally would be smaller which would make the magnetic field weaker making the earth more vulnerable and conditions would be harsher for