Johnny Space Case: Our Solar System

Hello everybody and welcome to the first page series of "Johnny Space Case". Here, we talk about the wonders of Outer Space, and maybe unlocking the mysteries too.

In this page, we'll talk about a little thing we know a lot about; the Solar System.

Our Solar System, up to now it has existed around 4.6 Billion Years, it consists up to 8 Planets, and each one of them has their own unique characteristics.

Lets visit them, shall we?

## Mercury

Mercury's Statistics

The Planet Mercury is the smallest and the closest planet to Our Sun. Named after the messenger of the Roman Gods, it's known to have the shortest length of year as it completes it's rotation around our Sun in just 87 Earth days which is around 3½ Months. It doesn't have an atmosphere, so it has extreme temperature contrasts as it can get up to around 330°F in the Sun and 200°F in the shade.

Though, Mercury goes fast around the Sun, but it goes quite slow on its axis, around 59 Earth Days (almost 2 months). The size of Mercury is quite small (as said before it's the smallest Planet in our Solar System), in fact it's so small that a few moons of Jupiter and Saturn are larger than Mercury.

Mercury is also known to have a large inner core. This may have been caused by Mercury merging with another planet (or moon) during it's protoplanet stage millions of years ago.

## Venus

Venus' Statistics

The second planet from our Sun and the one with the hottest surface temperature, and it's largely due to it's thick atmosphere which is mostly of Carbon Dioxide which holds in a lot of the Sun's heat. But, Venus' thick, cloudy atmosphere might not be alone in keeping its surface toasty. Venus is also known to be very active, seismically speaking. Quakes (Venusquakes if you may), and volcanic eruptions are frequent on the Planet, and sometimes can create these huge rivers of lava.

Venus also has the slowest rotation around its axis, in fact it can make a rotation around the sun faster.

## Earth

Earth's Statistics

Yes, our own planet; Earth. You may ask "why does Earth have life, breathable air, and water?" Well, the answer to all 3 of of those is that our Earth is in the Sun's "habitable zone" where a certain planet is at a certain distance from its star where it can sustain air, water, and thus life.
According to Earth's Statistics, our Earth's day is around 23 Hours and 58 minutes, though our clocks and watches say 24 Hours. It's rotation around the Sun is 365 Days (12 Months) which is a year to us. But sometimes, another day is added (366 Days) in which we refer it to a "Leap Year" where the Earth would spin just a bit faster to complete an extra day, and we sometimes add a day to our Calendars (usually in the month of February which usually has 28 days, but would have 29 days in a leap year).

Our Earth is also a cornucopia of many different climates. It has forests, jungles, deserts, tide flats, polar tundra, you get the point. Which also makes for a cornucopia of weather where it gets hot, cold, wet, dry, you get the point.

## Mars

Mars' Statistics

The fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is a freezing cold, desert planet and named after the Roman God of War (and \*no\*, I'm not talking about Kratos). Though, it's surface could be evidence that it once was a living planet like our Earth. It's crimson terrain is what gave it the nickname "The Red Planet". Though, Mars' soil isn't "red" as you may think of, say, a Fire Truck. The soil is actually an orangey-Pink color. According to Mars' Statistics, it does have an atmosphere consisting mostly of Carbon Dioxide, but its not thick like on Venus, it's very thin which makes the surface of Mars very cold.

There's also water, though frozen it's very different from the water on Earth. It's what is called "heavy water". We all know that Earth water is 2 parts Hydrogen and 1 part Oxygen. Heavy water is more balanced out (1 part Hydrogen and 1 part part Oxygen).

Mars also has a mountain; "Olympus Mons" (ancient English for "Mount Olympus") an extinct volcano who's latest eruption is said to be around 50 million years ago. It's also the tallest mountain in the Solar System as its height is around 73,000 Feet (compared to Mauna Kea, the highest Earth Mountain at 33,500 Feet) and larger than Hawaii's Big Island. It also has a canyon "Vales Marineris" (Mariner Valley in English) which is 3 times deeper than the Grand Canyon.

## Jupiter

Jupiter's Statistics

Jupiter, the fifth planet from the Sun and also the largest and the first to be formed in our solar system. Its mass is also very big, in fact if you were to take the rest of the 7 Planets in our solar system and put them together, Jupiter would still be more massive.

The most striking feature of Jupiter is its Red Spot, which is a giant hurricane and it's 1.5 times the size of our Earth. In fact, the entire planet of Jupiter is a series of storms as it can generate winds far more greater than what is ever witnessed on Earth, and these "bands" or "zones" on Jupiter go in opposite directions from each other. It also has the fastest rotation, only taking around 9 hours and 57 minutes to rotate on its axis.

## Saturn

Saturn's Statistics

Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun, and named after the Roman God of Harvest, though there's no solid ground. As you may know already that Saturn's most distinctive feature is its rings. Though, they may look solid from the photos we have taken, but the rings are really made out of millions and millions of small chunks of rock and ice. Astronomers believe that the reason Saturn got its rings is because of another space body which is roughly the size of mercury that disintegrated when it fell into Saturn's plane called the "Roche Limit" where other space bodies would disintegrate and then encircle the planet.

Saturn is also has materials that make it less dense than water. So, if you were to take Saturn, shrink it, and put it into a container of water, it would float.

## Uranus

Uranus' Statistics

Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It's the most unusual planet as it's axis is irregular, that is to say that the poles face in the direction of the Sun and not its equator. Astronomers believe that Uranus was hit by a space body the size of our Earth and set it lopsided. Uranus is also an "ice giant", not only is it extremely cold on Uranus, but any liquid materials on the planet are frozen.

Uranus is also the planet to have its name mispronounced. The correct pronunciation of the planet is (Ur-in-is) and not (Ur-an-is).

## Neptune

Neptune's Statistics

Neptune is our last planet from the Sun. You can probably guess that from it's dark blue color is that is very cold, that is because it's another ice giant. Like Jupiter, Neptune also has a giant Hurricane, the dark spot. Not as impressive as the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, it is still a very good feature.

## What happened to Pluto?

The dwarf plant Pluto was apart of our Solar System and considered to be the ninth planet from the time it was discovered by rookie Astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930 to 2006 when NASA created the dwarf planet classification. Pluto consists of ice and on an occasion would get in front of Neptune, it had one moon as well. But still, there's not much info about Pluto, hopefully it'll be an official planet once more info about it is revealed.

Well, that'll do it for this edition of "Johnny Space Case". Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until Next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.