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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
terrestrial planets
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planets that are small and rocky- Mercury, Venus, Earth, and mars.
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Jovian planets
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huge gas giants-Jupiter, saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. pluto does not fit into either the Jovian or the terrestrial category.
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Size
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the most obvious difference between the terrestrial and Jovian planets.
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Density, chemical makeup
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other ways in which the two groups of planets differ.
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Interiors
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the substances that make up the planets are divide into three groups: gases,rocks, and ices.
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Atmosphere
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the Jovian planets have very thick atmospheres of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia. By contrast, the terrestrial planets, including Earth, have meager atmospheres at best.
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Nebular theory
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the sun and planets formed from a rotating disk of dust and gases.
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nebula
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a cloud of gas and/or dust in space.
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planetesimals
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small,irregularly shaped bodies formed by colliding matter.
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Mercury:The innermost planet-
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Mercury is the inner most and second smallest planet; it is hardly larger than Earth's moon.
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surface features
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mercury has cratered highlands much like the moon, and vast smooth terrains that resemble maria.
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surface temperatures
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mercury has the greatest temperature extremes of any planet.
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Venus: The veiled planet
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venus is similar to Earth in size density, mass, and location in the solar system.
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surface temperatures
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reaches 475 C, and its atmosphere is 97 percent carbon dioxide
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surface features
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venus is covered in thick clouds that visible light cannot penetrate. About 80 percent of Venus's surface consists of plains covered by volcanic flow.
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The Martian atmosphere
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Has only 1 percent of the density of Earth's. Although the atmosphere of mars is very thin, extensive dust storms occur and may cause the color changes observed.
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surface feature of mars
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most martian surface features are old by Earth's standards. The highly cratered southern Hemisphere is probably 3.5 billion to 4.5 billion years old.
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water on mars
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Some areas of mars exhibit drainage patterns similar to those created by streams on Earth. images form mars global surveyor indicate that groundwater has recently migrated to the surface.
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mass
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is 2 1/2 times greater than the mass of all the other planets and moons combined
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structure of Jupiter
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hydrogen-helium, also contains small amounts of methane, ammonia, water, and sulfur compounds.
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Jupiter's moons
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Jupiter's satellite system, including the 28 moons discovered os far, resembles a miniature solar system.
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Jupiter's rings
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Jupiter's ring system was one of the most unexpected discoveries made by voyager 1.
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Saturn's most prominent feature
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it's system of rings
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features of Saturn
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its atmosphere is very active with winds roaring at up to 1500 kilometers per hour. Large cyclonic "storms" similar to Jupiter's Great Red Spot, although smaller, occur in Saturn's atmosphere.
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Saturn's rings
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until the discovery that Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune have ring systems, this phenomenon was thought to be unique to it.
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Saturn's moons
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Saturn's satellite system consists of 31 moons. Titan is the largest moon, and it is bigger than Mercury
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Uranus: The sideways planet
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instead of being generally perpendicular to the plane of its orbit like the other planets, uranus axis of rotation lies nearly parallel with the plane of its orbit.
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Neptune: The windy planet
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winds exceeding 1000 kilometers per hour encircle Neptune, making it one of the windiest places in the solar system.
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