Gas Giant Planets!

The Gas Giant Planets are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

  • They are the outer four planets in the Solar System.
  • They are the largest planets in the Solar System.
  • These planets do not have solid surfaces. So, if you had a space ship, and wanted to land it on one of the Gas Giants, you couldn't! [1]
  • They do have cores of molten rocky matter.
  • They have no surface features such as mountains and valleys.
  • Instead of having solid surfaces, they are composed of mainly gaseous and liquid hydrogen. Basically these planets are big atmospheres! [1]
  • These planets have many moons which range in size from very small bodies to objects as large as Mercury! [1]

Jupiter: Interactive site with statistics, photos and size comparisons.

Picture: Jupiter's Three Red Spots

Activity: Describe each of Jupiter's four largest moons.


Saturn: Interactive site with statistics, photos and size comparisons.

Picture: Moons, Rings, and Unexpected Colors on Saturn


Uranus: Interactive site with statistics, photos and size comparisons.

Picture: A Sharper View of a Tilted Planet


Neptune: Interactive site with statistics, photos and size comparisons.

Picture: Neptune: Still Springtime After All These Years


Refernces

[1]Arny, Thomas T. (2006) Explorations: An Introduction to Astronomy, Fourth Edition, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. pp272, ISBN 0-07-302580-1.

Never Stop Exploring!!!