A large ball of iron with a thin layer of rock on top, rather than being mostly made of rock like Earth.
The metal core is at least partially molten and extends 85% of the way to the surface.
New cards
2
Caloris Basin
The largest crater on Mercury.
New cards
3
MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging.
MESSENGER
New cards
4
molten state
The crust of Mercury probably shrank as it cooled from a ____, which led to the ridges.
New cards
5
8 miles
Mercury’s diameter could have decreased by as much as _____.
New cards
6
Strong seismic
_____ waves from the collision that created Caloris must have passed through Mercury and around its surface before convergent at the antipode with disastrous results.
New cards
7
100 times
Earth's magnetic field is _____ stronger than Mercury's.
New cards
8
Ice
____ can be found at the bottoms of craters near Mercury's North Pole, which are always in shadow and extremely cold.
New cards
9
Venus
It is the hottest planet in the solar system, with a surface temperature of 870°F (465.5°C) that is relatively constant from the equator to the pole, day and night.
New cards
10
greenhouse effect
Venus has a high average temperature as a result of an extreme ____.
New cards
11
Virga
Rain that evaporates before it hits the ground.
New cards
12
Rilles
The winding canyons left by lava flows.
New cards
13
Baltis Vallis
This region contains the solar system's longest known rille, which spans Venus at a distance of about 4,230 miles.
New cards
14
aerodynamic forces
Objects capable of creating craters up to 2 miles in diameter are hindered and destroyed by ______ in Venus' thick atmosphere.
New cards
15
Venus Express
The European Space Agency probe that arrived at Venus in April 2006 and orbited it until May 2014.
New cards
16
Mars Global Surveyor
A satellite that operated in orbit around Mars from 1997 to 2006.
New cards
17
Laser Altimeter
An instrument that bounced pulses of light off the Mars surface to measure the altitudes of the surface features that reflected the light.
New cards
18
Mars Odyssey
NASA’s probe began orbiting Mars in October 2001. It has found caves and evidence of widespread ice and also salt deposits on Mars.
New cards
19
Mars Express
A satellite from the Europea Space Agency that began orbiting Mars on December 25, 2003.
New cards
20
Northern Hemisphere
The _____ is generally much lower than the other Hemisphere, as seen from the topographic map of Mars.
New cards
21
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Numerous steeply sloping narrow linear features were captured on camera by the _______. They turn darker in the Martian summer and disappear when the temperature drops.
New cards
22
Sojourner
Mars Pathfinder’s tiny robot.
New cards
23
NASA’s Curiosity
The largest rover to traipse around Mars, discovered the remains of what was once a freshwater lake.
New cards
24
carbon dioxide
The atmosphere of Mars is mostly _____, but it is much thinner than the atmospheres of Earth or Venus.
New cards
25
South Polar
Dry ice is always present on Mars’s _____ Cap.
New cards
26
Olympus Mons
The largest volcano in the solar system. It is roughly five times wider and nearly three times higher than Mount Loa, the largest volcano on Earth, at 370 miles wide and 15 miles high.
New cards
27
Valles Marineris.
Mars’s large number of canyons, which is 2,490-mile-long.
Studied by 3 people
