Largest Mountain: The largest mountain (and Volcano) in the Solar system is Mount Olympus found on planet Mars by the Mariner 9 spacecraft. It has a height of 27 km tall and is 3 times the height of Mount Everest.
FAR OUT FACT #07
Largest Mountain: The largest mountain (and Volcano) in the Solar system is Mount Olympus found on planet Mars by the Mariner 9 spacecraft. It has a height of 27 km tall and is 3 times the height of Mount Everest.
The Planet Mercury
The planet Mercury is the closest planet to our Sun at an average distance of 58 million km’s. It is composed mainly of iron and because of its density of iron most likely has a solid iron core. Mercury has the widest ranges of temperatures on the surface ranging between 430 degrees Celsius during the day and -180 degrees at night. There is literally no shielding atmosphere on the planet keeping any gases produced from escaping.
Mercury has a solar orbit (a year) of a period of 88 days and has a diameter of 4,875 km’s wide. It has a rotation period of 59 Earth days. Because of its slow orbit and vertical rotation some parts and craters near the polar regions of the planet never see sunlight. This also means that Mercury has no seasons.
The planet Mercury has no moons and the evidence of its large surface craters tells us that it has been bombarded by many meteorites and asteroids in the past. During the last billion years Mercury’s volcanic eruptions and lava flow have ceased making it a tectonically inactive planet.
NASA’s Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to visit Mercury mapping only one side of the planet and sending images and television pictures back to Earth in the year 1974. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft is currently carrying out a fly-by and will be sending more images and information back to Earth in September this year.
Mercury has a solar orbit (a year) of a period of 88 days and has a diameter of 4,875 km’s wide. It has a rotation period of 59 Earth days. Because of its slow orbit and vertical rotation some parts and craters near the polar regions of the planet never see sunlight. This also means that Mercury has no seasons.
The planet Mercury has no moons and the evidence of its large surface craters tells us that it has been bombarded by many meteorites and asteroids in the past. During the last billion years Mercury’s volcanic eruptions and lava flow have ceased making it a tectonically inactive planet.
NASA’s Mariner 10 is the only spacecraft to visit Mercury mapping only one side of the planet and sending images and television pictures back to Earth in the year 1974. NASA’s Messenger spacecraft is currently carrying out a fly-by and will be sending more images and information back to Earth in September this year.
FAR OUT FACT #06
What’s an AU? An AU (Astronomical Unit) is a unit of length that is used to measure huge distances. One AU is equal to 150 million Km’s, which is on average the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth.
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The Kuiper Belt & Oort Cloud
The Kuiper Belt is a region located around the planets of our Solar System whereby icy comet-like objects and bodies are found. The largest object found in the Kuiper Belt so far is the dwarf planet Eris.
The Oort Cloud is a collection of an estimated one trillion long-period objects that surround, enter and leave our Solar System. Many of theses objects are left-over comets of Neptune and are on their way to the stars.
In 2003 when the object or planetoid Sedna was discovered, it was photographed as being the most distant object in the Solar System at 90 times further away from the sun than Earth was (90 AU’s).
The Oort Cloud is a collection of an estimated one trillion long-period objects that surround, enter and leave our Solar System. Many of theses objects are left-over comets of Neptune and are on their way to the stars.
In 2003 when the object or planetoid Sedna was discovered, it was photographed as being the most distant object in the Solar System at 90 times further away from the sun than Earth was (90 AU’s).
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Europa
Europa is one of 63 Jupiter moons located approximately 550 million Km’s from Earth. It is a ball of rock layered with water-ice and was discovered by Galileo in 1610. It is slightly smaller than our own moon but 5 times as bright. NASA’s Galileo space probe orbited the moon in 2003 revealing close-up images of scratch-like ridges and dark spots. The probe was low on fuel during its journey and was about to die so it was purposely put on a collision course towards Jupiter as not to contaminate the icy moon.
It is believed that beneath the surface of the ice which is 80-170 Km’s deep, that their could be: a) More ice but warmer or b) An ocean of liquid water with the potential of containing more water than that found in Earth’s oceans. However, the radiation from Jupiter is problematic and may cause the hindrance of life existing. Also, the pressures may be to extreme for harbouring life.
This moon is probably the most exciting moon of all. The unlimited possibilities that are offered in regards to a life-sustaining body in our solar system are endless. The fact that microbial life similar to that found in deep oceans of Earth would blow all theories of ‘there’s no life out there’ proverbially out of the water. NASA and ESA have proposed sending a probe to Europa to continue further tests of the moon by the year 2020.
It is believed that beneath the surface of the ice which is 80-170 Km’s deep, that their could be: a) More ice but warmer or b) An ocean of liquid water with the potential of containing more water than that found in Earth’s oceans. However, the radiation from Jupiter is problematic and may cause the hindrance of life existing. Also, the pressures may be to extreme for harbouring life.
This moon is probably the most exciting moon of all. The unlimited possibilities that are offered in regards to a life-sustaining body in our solar system are endless. The fact that microbial life similar to that found in deep oceans of Earth would blow all theories of ‘there’s no life out there’ proverbially out of the water. NASA and ESA have proposed sending a probe to Europa to continue further tests of the moon by the year 2020.
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FAR OUT FACT #04
Planetary Rotation: Every planet in the Solar system rotates anti-clockwise except for Venus, which rotates clockwise. It takes the Earth 24 hours to rotate on its axis but it takes Venus 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis.