Give three special features about each of the planets.
1. Surfaces:
Many forces shape the solid surfaces of planets and moons. Initially
hot, some of these surfaces fractured as they cooled, creating great
chasms. Impacts produce craters and can release molten flows beneath the
surface. On Earth, continental plates move continuously, forming ocean
basins and mountains. Water, ice, wind, and volcanoes both erode and
create surface features.
2. Atmospheric storms:
Great atmospheric storms occur on all the gas giants. The rapid
rotation of these planets stretches weather systems into zones that
encircle them. High winds blow in opposite directions at the edges of
the zones and feed energy into enormous rotating storms. Though they
resemble Earth’s hurricanes, these storms are far more powerful and up
to a hundred times larger.
3. Ring systems:
All of the gas giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune—have rings. Saturn has thousands of brightly reflective
rings, whereas the others have just a few dark rings. Rings are made of
ice or rock particles ranging up to house-size boulders. Collisions
among particles keep the rings extremely thin. Rings may be left over
from a planet’s formation, or they may be debris from the destruction of
moons.
1. Surfaces:
Many forces shape the solid surfaces of planets and moons. Initially hot, some of these surfaces fractured as they cooled, creating great chasms. Impacts produce craters and can release molten flows beneath the surface. On Earth, continental plates move continuously, forming ocean basins and mountains. Water, ice, wind, and volcanoes both erode and create surface features.
2. Atmospheric storms:
Great atmospheric storms occur on all the gas giants. The rapid rotation of these planets stretches weather systems into zones that encircle them. High winds blow in opposite directions at the edges of the zones and feed energy into enormous rotating storms. Though they resemble Earth’s hurricanes, these storms are far more powerful and up to a hundred times larger.
3. Ring systems:
All of the gas giant planets—Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—have rings. Saturn has thousands of brightly reflective rings, whereas the others have just a few dark rings. Rings are made of ice or rock particles ranging up to house-size boulders. Collisions among particles keep the rings extremely thin. Rings may be left over from a planet’s formation, or they may be debris from the destruction of moons.
