Image:Terrestrial planet size comparisons edit.jpg

The terrestrial planets, from left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. A terrestrial planet is a planet that is primarily composed of silicate rocks. The term is derived from the Latin word for Earth, "Terra", so an alternate definition would be that these are planets which are, in some notable fashion, "Earth-like". Terrestrial planets are substantially different from gas giants, which might not have solid surfaces and are composed mostly of some combination of hydrogen, helium, and water existing in various physical states. Terrestrial planets all have roughly the same structure: a central metallic core, mostly iron, with a surrounding silicate mantle. Terrestrial planets have canyons, craters, mountains, volcanoes and secondary atmospheres.

• original: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/multimedia/gallery/terr_sizes.jpg
• edited by tripling horivontal resolution, and superimposing over the old globes the images
  • en:Image:Reprocessed Mariner 10 image of Mercury.jpg
  • en:Image:Venus globe.jpg
  • en:Image:The Earth seen from Apollo 17.jpg
  • en:Image:Mars Valles Marineris.jpeg

20 March 2006

Jack · talk ·