What are the basic characteristics of the planets?
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See in\nhttp://www.seds.org/nineplanets/nineplanets/nineplanets.html\nGood luck!
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Planetary composition\nJupiter is composed of a relatively small rocky core, surrounded by metallic hydrogen, surrounded by liquid hydrogen, which is surrounded by gaseous hydrogen. There is no clear boundary or surface between these different phases of hydrogen; the conditions blend smoothly from gas to liquid as one descends.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter#Planetary_composition\n\nwikipedia strikes again!
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You could make a model of the solar system.  Use different sized Styrofoam balls for the planets.
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Planets\nStars\nGases\nDark Matter\nDark Energy\nRegular baryonic matter\nMeteor Rocks?
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mainly :\nstars generate light, planets only reflect\nplanets move through an orbit (around stars), stars don't
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Earth's Atmosphere\nThe Earth is surrounded by a blanket of air, which we call the atmosphere. It reaches over 560 kilometers (348 miles) from the surface of the Earth, so we are only able to see what occurs fairly close to the ground. Early attempts at studying the nature of the atmosphere used clues from the weather, the beautiful multi-colored sunsets and sunrises, and the twinkling of stars. With the use of sensitive instruments from space, we are able to get a better view of the functioning of our atmosphere.\n\nLife on Earth is supported by the atmosphere, solar energy, and our planet's magnetic fields. The atmosphere absorbs the energy from the Sun, recycles water and other chemicals, and works with the electrical and magnetic forces to provide a moderate climate. The atmosphere also protects us from high-energy radiation and the frigid vacuum of space.\n\nThe envelope of gas surrounding the Earth changes from the ground up. Four distinct layers have been identified using thermal characteristics (temperature changes), chemical composition, movement, and density\n\nComposition of the Atmosphere\nThe atmosphere is primarily composed of Nitrogen (N2, 78%), Oxygen (O2, 21%), and Argon (Ar, 1%). A myriad of other very influential components are also present which include the water (H2O, 0 - 7%), "greenhouse" gases or Ozone (O, 0 - 0.01%), Carbon Dioxide (CO2, 0.01-0.1%),\n\n\nLayers of atmosphere\n\nThe atmosphere is divided into five layers. It is thickest near the surface and thins out with height until it eventually merges with space. \n\n1) The troposphere is the first layer above the surface and contains half of the Earth's atmosphere. \nThe troposphere is where all weather takes place; it is the region of rising and falling packets of air. The air pressure at the top of the troposphere is only 10% of that at sea level (0.1 atmospheres). There is a thin buffer zone between the troposphere and the next layer called the tropopause\n\n2)The Stratosphere and Ozone Layer\nAbove the troposphere is the stratosphere, where air flow is mostly horizontal. The thin ozone layer in the upper stratosphere has a high concentration of ozone, a particularly reactive form of oxygen. This layer is primarily responsible for absorbing the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. The formation of this layer is a delicate matter, since only when oxygen is produced in the atmosphere can an ozone layer form and prevent an intense flux of ultraviolet radiation from reaching the surface, where it is quite hazardous to the evolution of life. There is considerable recent concern that manmade flourocarbon compounds may be depleting the ozone layer, with dire future consequences for life on the Earth\nMany jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. \n\n3)Mesosphere\nThe mesosphere starts just above the stratosphere and extends to 85 kilometers (53 miles) high. In this region, the temperatures again fall as low as -93 degrees Celsius as you increase in altitude. The chemicals are in an excited state, as they absorb energy from the Sun. The mesopause separates the mesophere from the thermosphere.\n\nThe regions of the stratosphere and the mesosphere, along with the stratopause and mesopause, are called the middle atmosphere by scientists. This area has been closely studied on the ATLAS Spacelab mission series. Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.\n\n4)Thermosphere\nThe thermosphere starts just above the mesosphere and extends to 600 kilometers (372 miles) high. The temperatures go up as you increase in altitude due to the Sun's energy. Temperatures in this region can go as high as 1,727 degrees Celsius. Chemical reactions occur much faster here than on the surface of the Earth. This layer is known as the upper atmosphere.\n\nThe upper and lower layers of the thermosphere will be studied more closely during the Tethered Satellite Mission (TSS-1R).\n\n\n5) exosphere\nThe exosphere starts at the t
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Since most people have either accurately or sarcastically answered your question, here is some fun things you can look for while planet gazing.  \n\nThe inner planets (Mercury & Venus) will show you phases the same as the moon has except when they get close to a full "planet" (like a full moon) they will be very close to the other side of their orbit and will be difficult to see due to being close to the sun.  The closer in the orbit crescents are more interesting anyway.  On the outer planets, Mars will be reddish with some darker parts and sometimes you can see the polar "ice" caps (said to be frozen carbon dioxide).  Jupiter (the largest) has the ongoing "red spot" (thought to be a giant storm) that passes around it.  Another interesting Jupiter tidbit is you can clearly and easily see four of its moons (which will change position from night to night) with just a moderately powerful telescope.   Saturn has, of course, it's rings which will be at different angles of view depending on what part of its orbit it's in.  The rest (Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) are very, very distant and extremely difficult to see with anything except very expensive equipment. \n\nAnd don't just focus on the planets.  There is a multitude of clusters , galaxys, multiple star systems and nebulae to check out (not to mention the occasional comet and meteor shower that comes now and then)\n\nHope you have fun with it...
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The Planets  \nCompare and contrast the planets in terms of. Size relative to the Earth ... structure may be similar to Earth because of similar density, mass, and diameter. ...www.gpc.edu/~pgore/Earth&Space/GPS/planets.html \nPlanet - Wikipedia  \nBody of considerable mass that orbits a star and that doesn't produce energy through nuclear fusion. Offers an introduction to the planets of our solar system, ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planets \nplanet: Definition and Much More from Answers.com  \n... and other planets occupy a variety of relative ... See also astronomical objects and the solar system's list of objects, sorted by radius or mass. ...www.answers.com/topic/planet
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They have solids cores.  Other than that the are mostly gas, due to the distance from the suns gravity.  When our solar system was formed most of the "heavier" elements stayed close to the major gravity pull, the sun. once out any other heavy elements that made it out that far condensed to gether to form cores.  Now; the farther away from the sun you go the coder it gets.  Now the gases that are out that far basically freeze and get "solid".  hope this helps!!\n\nBy the way- ALL planets need a core.  even though it might not be of same rocky material as other planets (Jupiter, saturn)..think of my explaination above.  If none of the solids came out that far out, they could get together to form a core, but something has to be in the center of a planet.
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Small, near the Sun, basic original atmosphere was mostly carbon dioxide, rocky surface of silicate materials overlying a core of nickel-iron, rotate more slowly than the giant planets, have fewer moons than the giant planets, weak or no magnetic field, high density (altho that sort of duplicates the rocky with NiFe core).
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There are two main forms of energy each planet has in its orbit around the sun.\n\nObviously, the planets have some rotational kinetic energy since that are rotating around the sun and a pretty quick pace.\nRotatioal KE = 1/2 I*w^2\nwhere I is the rotational inertial of each planet and w (greek letter, lower case omega) is the rotational velocity.\nIf you treat each planet as a point mass rotating around a fixed axis (the sun), then their rotational inertia would be,\nI = mr^2\nwhere m is the mass of the planet and r is the radius away from the sun.\n\nIn addition to the rotational energy of each planet, they also have some potential energy by virtue of being some distance away from the sun.  Just like a rock has potential energy when it is lifted above the surface of the Earth, the planets too have potential energy since they are some distance away from the sun.\nGravitaional potential enegry = mgh,\nwhere m is the planets mass, g is their gravitational acceleration towards the sun and h is the orbital radiusm away from the sun.\n\n\nAs you can see, there is a lot of energy stored in the orbits of the planets.
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The nine planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune(sometimes Pluto), and Pluto(sometimes Neptune).
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The order of planets? \n\nMercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
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Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the inner planets. Read all about them (and the other planets too) at the web site.
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Here are a couple of sites u can get photos of planets. Hope it helps.\n\nhttp://www.photovault.com/search.asp?srchwd=pictures+of+planets\n\nhttp://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/index.html\n\nThere are plenty more site if u type it in a search engine.
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The body of planets, their moons and other objects that orbit the Sun.
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the Earth 3rd planet from the sun; the only planet were life exists; the Earth moves around the sun.\n\nto know more about the earth or the astronomy and space contact me :)