Which inner planet has the thickest atmosphere

Mercury is named for the Roman messenger god, who could run extremely quickly, just as the planet moves very quickly in its orbit around the Sun. A year on Mercury — the length of time it takes to orbit the Sun — is just 88 Earth days. Despite its very short years, Mercury has very long days. A day is defined as the time it takes a planet to turn on its axis. Mercury rotates slowly on its axis, turning exactly three times for every two times it orbits the Sun. Therefore, each day on Mercury is 57 Earth days long.

In other words, on Mercury, a year is only a Mercury day and a half long! Mercury is close to the Sun, so it can get very hot. However, Mercury has virtually no atmosphere, no water to insulate the surface, and it rotates very slowly.

For these reasons, temperatures on the surface of Mercury vary widely. Although most of Mercury is extremely dry, scientists think there may be a small amount of water in the form of ice at the poles of Mercury, in areas that never receive direct sunlight.

Mercury is one of the densest planets. Named after the Roman goddess of love, Venus is the only planet named after a female. When it is visible, Venus is the brightest object in the sky besides the Sun and the Moon. When Venus rises just before the Sun rises, the bright object is called the morning star. When it sets just after the Sun sets, it is the evening star.

Of the planets, Venus is most similar to Earth in size and density. Venus is also our nearest neighbor. But the resemblance between the two inner planets ends there. Venus rotates in a direction opposite the other planets and opposite to the direction it orbits the Sun.

This rotation is extremely slow, only one turn every days. This is longer than a year on Venus—it takes Venus only days to orbit the Sun. Venus is covered by a thick layer of clouds, as shown in pictures of Venus taken at ultraviolet wavelengths Figure below. This ultraviolet image from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter shows thick layers of clouds in the atmosphere of Venus. Clouds on Venus are made mostly of carbon dioxide with a bit of sulfur dioxide — and they also contain corrosive sulfuric acid.

Because carbon dioxide is greenhouse gas, the atmosphere traps heat from the Sun and creates a powerful greenhouse effect. Even though Venus is further from the Sun than Mercury, the greenhouse effect makes Venus the hottest planet.

The dense atmosphere totally obscures the surface of Venus, even from spacecraft orbiting the planet. Many features found on the surface are similar to Earth and yet are very different. Figure below shows a topographical map of Venus produced by the Magellan probe using radar. This false color image of Venus was made from radar data collected by the Magellan probe between and What features can you identify?

Orbiting spacecraft have used radar to reveal mountains, valleys, and canyons. Most of the surface has large areas of volcanoes surrounded by plains of lava. Between its eight planets, moons, 5 dwarf planets possibly hundreds more , , known asteroids, and 3, known comets, it has wonders to sate the most demanding of curiosities.

Our Solar System is made up of different regions, which are delineated based on their distance from the Sun, but also the types of planets and bodies that can be found within them. In addition to their proximity, these planets have a number of key differences that set them apart from planets elsewhere in the Solar System.

For starters, the inner planets are rocky and terrestrial, composed mostly of silicates and metals, whereas the outer planets are gas giants. The inner planets are also much more closely spaced than their outer Solar System counterparts. In fact, the radius of the entire region is less than the distance between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. This line represents the boundary in a system where conditions are warm enough that hydrogen compounds such as water, ammonia, and methane are able to take liquid form.

Beyond the frost line, these compounds condense into ice grains. Generally, inner planets are smaller and denser than their counterparts, and have few to no moons or rings circling them. The atmosphere of Venus is very hot and thick.

The carbon dioxide traps most of the heat from the Sun. The cloud layers also act as a blanket. This means that Venus is even hotter than Mercury. Home » Animals. See also What company has the biggest revenue? See also Who is the richest criminal in the world? Related posts: What planet has the thickest atmosphere?

Which outer planet has the thickest atmosphere? In the solar system, these planets are closer to the sun and are therefore warmer than the planets located farther out in the solar system. Future space missions are being designed to search remotely for terrestrial planets around other stars. The layers of gases surrounding the surface of a planet make up what is known as an atmosphere. The atmospheres of the terrestrial planets range from thin to thick.

Mercury has almost no atmosphere. A thick atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide covers Venus, trapping heat and raising surface temperatures. Clouds on Venus form from sulfuric acid.