Interesting facts about the terrestrial planets

In the solar system, there are four objects that are commonly called planets of the terrestrial group: Mercury (the smallest), Venus and Mars, and Earth (the largest). They are also called internal, solid, opposing external gas giant planets.

General characteristics

The facts about the planets of the terrestrial group, basically, concern their objective, visual characteristics, because the physical presence of a person is possible only on one of these space objects - the Earth.

It is known that these celestial bodies have a significant density, consist of iron and silicates, as well as oxygen, silicon, magnesium, and aluminum. The known facts about the planets of the terrestrial group say that all these objects have a certain structure. In the center is a core containing iron and nickel. Then there is a mantle, which includes silicates. It is covered by bark, which also consists of silicate rocks, but enriched with other elements. Mercury does not have a crust, which, scientists suppose, was the result of meteoric bombardment of a space object. Earth and Mars have satellites. Mercury and Venus do not.

Earth-like

Most scientists believe that the best conditions for the emergence of biological life exist precisely on the planets of this group. That is why the search and comprehensive study of these space objects attracts the increased attention of scientists of all countries. An example of an earth-type planet is the so-called super-earth. According to data for 2012, they found more than fifty. On each of them, according to scientists, it is theoretically possible the emergence of life.

Facts about the planets of the terrestrial group

But back to the solar system. The Native Land is the third one from the Sun. It is the largest of solid-state planets in density, diameter and mass. We learn a few facts about our planet:

• For today, this is the only known cosmic body on which biological life has been discovered.
• The Earth was formed long ago - over four and a half billion solar years ago. And life on our planet appeared, according to most scientists, about half a billion years after that.
• Together with the magnetic field, the ozone layer weakens harmful solar radiation. This is one of the conditions for the possibility of life on the planet.
• The Earth's crust is made up of tectonic plates moving at a speed of several centimeters per year!
• More than 70 percent of the planet's surface is occupied by water. Land accounts for less than 30 percent. Water is vital for all known living forms.
• The poles of the planet cover the Arctic ice and the Antarctic shield from the ice.
• According to some scientists, the Earth can retain the living conditions of biological organisms for quite a long time: more than two billion years. Unless, of course, one attempts to artificially violate these conditions (as a result of the pernicious and thoughtless activity of man and his impact on the biosphere).
• Our planet turns around the Sun in about 365.26 days, which is a sidereal year.
• The moon, the satellite of the Earth, causes the phenomenon of tide, and also stabilizes the Earth's axis, gradually slowing down the rotation of our planet.
• The fall of asteroids has repeatedly caused the extinction of various species of organisms, leading to significant changes in the biosphere. These and other facts about the planets of the terrestrial group became known thanks to the activity of scientists constantly studying the processes taking place in the solar system.

Mars

• Everyone knows that they called it the God of War. Another common name is the Red Planet (thanks to the shade of the surface that iron oxide imparts ).
• The atmosphere of Mars is rarefied. The surface has volcanoes, valleys, deserts. At the poles - glacial hats.
• Two satellites of this planet of the terrestrial group are known. Interesting facts related to Phobos and Deimos: this is the name of the sons of the god of war (in translation "fear" and "horror"). Their dimensions compared, for example, with the Moon, are small. Both have an irregular shape.
• What other interesting facts are there about the planets of the terrestrial group? The Egyptians called Mars - Gore the Red, in Babylon it was known as the Death Star, the Jews also called the planet - He who blushes. The cause in all cases was the bloody shade of this heavenly body.
• In honor of Mars the month of March is named.
• It is interesting that water can not exist on this planet in liquid form because of the sparseness of the atmosphere. But it is present here in the form of ice. This made it possible for scientists to assume that there was once life on Mars.
• A man who got to Mars without a special spacesuit would die instantly, because at very low pressure all the oxygen in the blood would turn into vesicles.
• In the atmosphere of the planet there is no ozone layer . There is very strong radiation, deadly for humans.
• The wind speed in dusty storms on the planet reaches up to 200 kilometers per hour.
• Some scientists believe that the intersecting canyons on the surface of the planet have a man-made origin.

Venus

This heavenly body also belongs to a class called the "planet of the terrestrial group". Interesting facts about the research of its composition and surface attract the attention of many scientists at all times. Consider the main ones:

• Venus is the brightest of the planets. On a clear moonless night, she is able to cast a shadow on the earth's surface.
• Venus does not have satellites, like Mercury. Its sphere is almost ideal, unlike the earthly, flattened.
• From the surface of Venus can not see the sun because of the constant clouds. Also there is no change of seasons as such.
• Scientists suggest that earlier on Venus there were large reserves of water, but it had evaporated long ago as a result of increased solar radiation.
• Life on Venus is impossible because of the very high temperature.
• The day on the planet lasts a little less than the Earth year!

Mercury

Consider two or three interesting facts about the planets of the terrestrial group.

• Mercury is the smallest (according to data for 2006, when Pluto lost its planet status) and the planet of the solar system closest to our main luminary.

• This body is the least studied. So, scientists only in 2009 compiled complete maps of the surface of this celestial body.
• A day on the planet is twice as long as a year!

Here are two more interesting facts about the planets of the terrestrial group:

• Deimos, the companion of Mars, rises and sets in twice a day.
• When Mars approaches a close distance to Earth, the largest number of UFO appearances are recorded.

That's how you can describe the terrestrial planets. All the facts about space, provided by scientists, are of recent interest to the general public. This is connected with the possibility of the emergence of biological life on other planets and with the ever increasing ability of mankind to comprehend the secrets of the universe.