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                        Mercury

Size and Closeness to the Sun: Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar 

System.   It is only slighter bigger than the Earth's moon.   It is the closest 

planet to the Sun.

How long a day lasts on the planet: A day on Mercury takes about 59 Earth 

days.

Type of Planet: It is a rocky planet also known as a terrestrial planet.

Number of Moons: 0 Moons

Number of Rings:   0 rings

Atmosphere: Its atmosphere or exosphere, is composed mostly of oxygen, 

sodium, hydrogen, helium, and potassium.

Fun Facts: Only two spacecrafts have visitied Mercury: Mariner 10 in 1974 

and 75 and Messenger which flew past Mercury three times before orbiting 

in 2011.   No evidence of life have been found on Mercury.

VE             

                        Venus 

Size and Closeness to the Sun: Venus is only a little smaller than the 

planet Earth.   It is the second closest planet to the Sun.

How long a day lasts on the planet: A day on Venus lasts about 243 Earth 

days.

Type of Planet: Venus is a rocky planet, also known a terrestrial planet.

Number of Moons: 0 moons

Number of Rings: 0 rings

Atmosphere: Venus has a thick and toxic atmosphere made up mostly of 

carbon dioxide, and nitrogen with clouds of sulfuric acid droplets.

Fun Facts: More than 40 spacecrafts have orbited Venus.   The Magellan 

voyage in the 1990s mapped 98% of the planets surface.   No evidence of 

life have been found on the planet.   Venus spins backwards when 

compared to other planets.  

Earth

Size and Closeness to the Sun: Earth is the third planet from the sun.   If 

the sun was as tall as a door then Earth would be about the size of a 

nickel.  

How long a day lasts on the planet: A day on the planet Earth lasts 24 

hours.   It makes a complete orbit around the sun in 365 days.

Type of Planet: Earth is a rocky planet, also known as a terrestrial 

planet.

Number of Moons: 1

Number of Rings: 0

Atmosphere: The Earth's atmosphere is made up of 78% nitrogen, 21% 

oxygen, and 1% other ingredients.   Earth's atmosphere protects us 

from incoming meteoroids. 

Fun Facts: Many orbiting spacecraft have orbited Earth as a home 

system.   Earth is the planet that we live on so it is our home planet. It is 

the perfect place for life.   

                Mars

Size and Closeness to the Sun: Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.  

If the Sun was as tall as a front door then Mars would be the size of an 

aspirin tablet.

How long a day lasts on the planet: A day on Mars lasts takes a little 

over 24 hours. 

Type of Planet: Mars is a rocky planet also known as a terrestrial planet.

Number of Moons: Mars has two moons named: Phobos and Deimos.

Numer of Rings: 0

Atmosphere: Mars has a thin atmosphere made up mostly of carbon 

dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.

Fun Facts: More than 40 spacecrafts have been launched for Mars.   The 

first true Mars mission was Mariner 4 in 1965.   Mars is also known as 

the "Red Planet".   At this time Mars cannot support life as we know it.

Jupiter

Size and Closeness to the Sun: Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun. If 

the sun was as tall as a door then Jupiter would be the size of a 

basketball.

How long a day lasts in Jupiter: A day in Jupiter lasts about 10 hours.

Type of Planet: Jupiter is a gas-giant planet, therefore it does not have a 

solid surface.

Number of Moons: 50 known moons with an additional 17 moons 

awaiting cofirmation so in total Jupiter has about 67 moons.

Number of Rings: Jupiter has a faint ring system that was discovered in 

1979 by the Voyager. 

Atmosphere: Jupiters atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen and  

helium.

Fun Facts: Many missions have visited Jupiter and its moons.   A new 

mission named, "Juno" will arrive in 2016.   Jupiter is not able to 

support life as we know it.   Its Giant Red Spot is a gigantic storm 

(bigger than Earth) that has been raging for hundreds of years.

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