types of planets

 types of planets

The Solar System is made up of the Sun and objects orbiting it of varying sizes, composition, and temperatures, including planets, asteroids, moons, comets, and meteorites.  Planets are generally divided into two groups: terrestrial planets and giant planets.

terrestrial planets

The terrestrial planets, or what are known as the inner or rocky planets, include the four planets closest to the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Composed primarily of rocks and minerals, they share a small size, mass, and high density. These four planets also have surfaces that are solid in nature, but they do not have a ring system and have few, if any, moons.

 Scientists believe that water flows on all terrestrial planets at some point in their life, that is, they contain water in one form or another. Water is believed to be present at the planet's poles in the form of insoluble subsurface ice, while Earth is the only planet that contains water in its liquid form, which supports the existence of life on its surface, and is worth note that the distance of the inner planets from the sun affects their atmosphere Mercury lacks an atmosphere on it due to its proximity to the sun, which causes a high temperature on its surface, while Venus is characterized by its extreme density.  However, the temperature on its surface is higher than the surface temperature of Mercury.

giant planets

The giant planets, or what are known as the outer planets, or the planets of Jupiter include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, and all of these planets have common characteristics, in terms of composition, they consist mainly of hydrogen and helium, and they are the planets farthest from the sun, besides because they are similar in their great mass and size, in addition to their low density, and these planets have several moons, and rings around them, but their surface is not of a solid nature, and the Giant planets are divided into two parts: the gas giant planets and the ice giant planets.

giant gas planets

The gas giant planets include both Jupiter and Saturn, and are characterized by an exceptionally large mass, their collective mass accounting for 90% of the mass of all the planets, and consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium, plus other compounds in its atmosphere. .  In abundance, such as: ammonia, methane and water, so these two planets are characterized by a low temperature in their outer atmosphere.

Giant icy planets

Giant ice planets include Uranus and Neptune, which are smaller than Jupiter and Saturn in terms of mass and size. The helium and hydrogen in them are less than those in Jupiter and Saturn, and Uranus and Neptune also contain a significantly large amount of rock and ice in each of them, so they are classified as ice giants.