PLANET TRADING CARDS

MERCURY

• A year in Mercury is just 88 days long: One day on Mercury lasts the equivalent of 176 Earth days
• Mercury is almost the densest planet in the solar system and is second only to Earth.
• The largest known crater on Mercury, the Caloris Basin, has a diameter of 1,550 km.
• Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System
• As the iron core of the planet cooled and contracted, the surface of the planet became wrinkled.

VENUS

• Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is the second brightest object in the night sky after the Moon.
• A day on Venus lasts longer than a year:
• Venus rotates counter-clockwise: Also known as retrograde rotation
• Atmospheric pressure on Venus is 92 times greater than the Earth’s:
• Venus has mountains that are higher than Earth. Maat Mons is more than 5 miles high.

EARTH

• It is 4.54 billion years old
• Earth's atmosphere is composed of 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.
• Oceans cover over 70% of Earth's surface.
• Compared with other solid bodies in the Solar System, the Earth's surface has realtively few visible impact craters
• One year on Earth last a little over 365 days.

MARS

• Mars has the biggest volcano in the solar system Olympus Mons.
• Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system: They can last for months.
• Mars is red because it is rusty. There is a lot of iron in the soil.
• Valleys and Canyons on Mars suggest that the planet once had large amounts of surface water.
• Mars has very weak gravity which cannot hold onto the atmosphere well.

JUPITER

• Jupiter has a mass 318 times greater than the Earth's and a diameter that is 11 times larger.
• The great red spot on Jupiter is a storm that has been going on for over 300 years.
• Jupiter is covered by an ocean of hydrogen with a sludge-like consistency.
• Jupiter has a ring just like Saturn and Uranus
• But it takes 12 Earth years for Jupiter to complete an orbit around the sun.

SATURN

• Saturn has the lowest density of all the planets in the solar
• It takes about 29.46 Earth years for Saturn to orbit around our sun.
• The atmosphere of Saturn comprises mostly of Hydrogen and Helium.
• Saturn has seven thin, flat rings around it.
• Saturn was the farthest planet from the earth that the ancient astronomers knew about

URANUS

• Even though Neptune is further from the sun, Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system.
• It takes 30,685 Earth days for Uranus to complete an orbit around the sun.
• Uranus has two sets of rings, nine inner rings and two outer rings
• The atmosphere of Uranus is composed mostly of Hydrogen and Helium with a little Methane
• Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun and was the first planet to be discovered with a telescope

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