Science Common Sense
1275 - What are the differences in terrestrial planet environments?
The terrestrial planets in our solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The main differences in their environments are:
- Temperature:
- Mercury is extremely hot during the day and very cold at night.
- Venus is the hottest planet, with thick clouds that trap heat.
- Earth has a comfortable temperature, with air that helps keep it steady.
Mars is cold, with temperatures changing greatly between day and night.
Atmosphere:
- Mercury has a very thin atmosphere, no air to breathe.
- Venus has a thick atmosphere that traps heat and makes it hard to see the ground.
- Earth has air that's perfect for humans and animals to breathe.
Mars has a thin atmosphere, with very little air to breathe.
Water:
- Mercury and Venus have almost no water.
- Earth is covered in water, with oceans and lakes.
Mars has ice at the poles and evidence that it had water a long time ago.
Surface features:
- Mercury has many craters and is very rocky.
- Venus is covered in thick clouds, but has volcanoes and mountains under the clouds.
- Earth has mountains, valleys, and oceans.
- Mars has the largest volcano in our solar system and deep canyons.