1.8 History of the Moon: Collision and Catastrophe? Although the Moon is our nearest planetary neighbor and astronauts have sampled its surface, much is still unknown about its origin. The most widely favored scenario is that during the formative period …
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1.7 The Surface of the Moon: Impact Craters and Lunar Mare When Galileo first pointed his telescope toward the moon, he saw two different types of terrain, dark lowlands and brighter, highly cratered highlands. Because the dark regions resemble Seas …
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1.6 Earth’s Moon: Diameter, Density, Gravity, and the Terrain that makes the Face of the Man in the Moon Today Earth has hundreds of satellites, but only one, the moon, is natural. Although other planets have moons, our planet satellite …
1.5 The Atmospheres of the Planet: Gas Giants (thick) vs Terrestrial Planets (thin) The Jovian planets have very thick atmospheres of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia. By contrast, the terrestrial planets, including Earth, have meager atmospheres at best. There are …
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1.4 Gas Planets, Rocky Planets, Icy Planets: The Chemical Composition of the Solar System The substances that make up the planets are divided into three compositional groups: gases, rocks and ices, based on their melting points. Gases – hydrogen and …