Extraterrestrial skies

Mercury is the smallest of the planets and the closest to the Sun. It takes 88 days to travel around the Sun, however due to the slow rotation on its own axis one day is almost 2 Mercury years long.

Mercury’s temperature varies widely depending on which side of the planet is facing the Sun. During the day the surface can reach 788℉ (420℃) but the night side temperature averages at -280℉ (-173℃).

The probe Venera, developed by the Soviet Union was the first human made object to land on another planet. In 1967 Venera 4 landed on the surface of Venus and gave humans a look at what it was like on our closest neighbour.

The surface of Venus is quite smooth due to ancient volcanic activity. Venus has a large amount of volcanoes with 167 massive volcanoes, each one at least 62 miles (100 kilometres) across. All seems to now be dormant or extinct.

Thanks to the work of the Mars Rovers we have a very good idea of what the surface is like on Mars. Fun fact - every year the Mars Curiosity Rover sings ‘Happy birthday’ to itself to celebrate the anniversary of its landing. 

There is water on Mars located in the polar ice cap, however liquid water hasn’t been found. If the ice cap was to melt Mars would be completely covered in water to a depth of 115 feet (35 metres).

Between Mars and Jupiter there is a group of asteroids on their own orbit around the Sun. The largest of the asteroids is Ceres at 559 miles  (900 kilometers) long and most of the asteroids are simply dust specks.

If all the asteroids were squished together they would only be half the size of our Moon. Spacecrafts have passed through the belt with no incidences thanks to the great distance between larger asteroids.

Ceres is made up of rock and ice and some scientists think that under the icy mantle lies an ocean. Plumes of water vapour has also been observed.

We are standing on the surface of Metis, Jupiter’s innermost moon (one of 67 known moons). Jupiter is a gas planet so there are no solid surfaces for anything to land on. However, Jupiter is not a light, airy gas bubble.

Due to its massive size much of the gas is liquefied and scientists believe that the core of Jupiter may be made out of extremely dense metal. 

Jupiter’s stripes are made up of ammonia and water. Its famous Red Spot is a giant storm that has raged for at least 350 years, so large that three Earth sized planets could fit inside the storm.

Saturn is another gas giant and technically has no surface. However these rings need to be seen up close so we are currently floating very high up in Saturn’s atmosphere looking out. 

Saturn’s temperature varies; the toppmost atmosphere is a chilly - 482℉ (-250℃) while the lowest layer sits at 32℉ (-0℃). The core of Saturn is thought to be extremely hot, hotter even than the Sun.

Although Uranus is also made out of gas it is often referred to as an ice giant due to the high amount of frozen gases. It is also the only planet that has an equator that is nearly at a right angle to its orbit.

Finishing off its unique status, Uranus is the only planet in the Solar System named for a Greek god instead of a Roman god.

Uranus is extremely cold, one of the coldest places in the Solar System. Temperatures are a minimum -435℉ (-224℃)

Neptune is the farthest known planet in our Solar System (sorry Pluto, you are still classified as a dwarf planet). Like its neighbour Uranus it is an ice giant and takes 164 years to orbit around the Sun.

It is the only planet in the Solar System invisible to the naked eye. Due to its distance from the Earth it wasn’t until the twentieth century and the advent of powerful telescopes that scientists were able to study Neptune in detail.

Scientists have recorded the strongest winds in the Solar System on Neptune. In 2012 a storm produced winds travelling at 1300 miles per hour (2100 kilometres).