Category Archives: Terrestrials

includes Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars

Mars, Water trapped in Rocks

Posted on March 21, 2021 by lorenzchen14

An Artist’s Rendition of what Mars may have looked like 4 billion years ago As we have discussed in class, Mars looks very different today than it did billions of years ago. One notable difference is that Mars may have liquid water, as we see evidence of this in canyons and dried river beds inContinue reading “Mars, Water trapped in Rocks” Continue reading →

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solar system superlatives: Mars

Posted on March 20, 2021 by Peter Taylor

Welcome to solar system superlatives – a blog series where we’ll learn about some of the craziest phenomena found in our solar system. First up, Mars. Mars is home to some of our solar system’s most impressive geological formations. Olympus Mons, for instance is the largest mountain in the solar system, and, as I amContinue reading “solar system superlatives: Mars” Continue reading →

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Surface Features of Mercury

Posted on March 19, 2021 by lauryn28

Mercury is a terrestrial planet, though it is quite different in appearance than Earth. It’s grey rocky surface more resembles that of the moon, however unlike the moon Mercury has a liquid iron core and is much denser. Moreover, Mercury’s surface features paint an interesting story of past geological occurrences. Mercury formed around 4.6 billionContinue reading “Surface Features of Mercury” Continue reading →

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Middle Man Mars

Posted on March 17, 2021 by dayanel123

The terrestrial worlds are known to be Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, and Mars. While they all have some similarities to one another, like rocky surfaces and much smaller sizes than relative to the remaining planets in the solar system, they also have many differences. Venus and Earth are alike in ways that the otherContinue reading “Middle Man Mars” Continue reading →

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Retrograde Motion

Posted on February 24, 2021 by kjackson1456

Those in the realm of astrology are more than familiar with Mercury retrograde. During these unsettling periods, Mercury’s influence over matters of transportation and communication is altered which causes many unfortunate issues to arise. That is, of course, astrology’s interpretation of retrograde motion. In astronomy, retrograde motion simply describes the reversed direction planets seem toContinue reading “Retrograde Motion” Continue reading →

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Why Does Titan Have an Atmosphere?

Posted on March 28, 2020 by Reece Boggs

It’s pretty perplexing as to why Saturn’s moon, Titan, has such a thick atmosphere but a planet like Mars does not. Since the most widely accepted explanation of why Mars has such a thin atmosphere is it losing its magnetosphere as its core cooled and does not contain nearly as much metallic iron has theContinue reading “Why Does Titan Have an Atmosphere?” Continue reading →

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A new possibility of life on Mars?

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Jack

A photograph taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) in 2011 has recently been released, showing what appears to be a sizable underground cavern on the slopes of Pavonis Mons, a Martian mountain standing 46,000 feet tall, higher than Mount Everest. The possibility of underground caves on Mars is exciting for (at least) two reasons:Continue reading “A new possibility of life on Mars?” Continue reading →

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How did mountains form on Venus?

Posted on March 17, 2020 by Jack

Venus is often described as Earth’s sister planet. Both planets have similar size and densities, indicating somewhat similar core compositions. The primary difference between the two is orbital distance from the sun. Venus, like Earth, is covered with geological features including volcanoes and mountains. We know how mountains formed on Earth – tectonic plates. MountainsContinue reading “How did mountains form on Venus?” Continue reading →

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The Earth’s Leaking Core

Posted on March 15, 2020 by caseycao

The Earth’s structure reminds us of an egg, where继续阅读“The Earth’s Leaking Core” Continue reading →

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Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Worlds

Posted on March 15, 2020 by Reece Boggs

The difference in surface conditions of the first four terrestrial planets can be explained almost solely by their atmospheres rather than their proximity to the Sun. Mercury has very little atmosphere to where it does not really play a factor in this, but the stark differences between Venus, Earth and Mars can be explained throughContinue reading “Atmospheres of the Terrestrial Worlds” Continue reading →

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