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Home > Terrestrial planet

A terrestrial planet is a planet which 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 may 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. The Moon is similar, but lacks an iron core. Terrestrial planets have canyons, cratersThis article is about impact craters. For volcanic craters, see Caldera. For the constellation, see Crater (constellation). A crater basin or impact crater is a circular depression on the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid, or other celestial body. Crate, mountainsThis article is about the landform. For other meanings, see Mountain (disambiguation). Mount Cook, a mountain in New Zealand A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area. A mountain is generally much higher and ste, and volcanoesThis article is about volcanoes geology. For the action movie see: Volcano (movie). A volcano (plural, volcanoes) is a geological landform (usually a mountain) where magma (rock of the earth's interior made molten or liquid by high pressure and temperatur.

Earth's solar systemA generic solar system (or planetary system consists of at least one star and various orbiting objects (such as asteroids, comets, moons, and planets). The term originated to describe the planetary system around Sol, the Latin name for our sun. The planet has four terrestrial planets: MercuryMercury is the closest planet to the Sun, and the second-smallest planet in the solar system. Mercury ranges from 0. 5 in apparent magnitude; Mercury is sufficiently "close" to the Sun that telescopes rarely examine it (the greatest elongation is 28., VenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, named after the Roman goddess Venus. It is a terrestrial planet, very similar in size and bulk composition to Earth; it is sometimes called Earth's "sister planet" as a result of this similarity. Although all plane, Earth and MarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the solar system, named after the Roman god of war (the counterpart of the Greek Ares), on account of its blood red color as viewed in the night sky. Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, both small and odd. At one time there were probably many more terrestrials, but most have been ejected from the solar system or otherwise destroyed. Only one terrestrial planet, Earth, is known to have an active hydrosphereHydrosphere ( Greek hydro means "water") in physical geography, describes collective mass of water that is found under, on and over the surface of the Earth. Water comprising hydrosphere is found in various forms : under the Earth's surface and in rocks i.

The 29 small bodies of the solar system of diameter 400+ km, to scale.
First row, left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars and the four large main belt asteroids.
Second row: the four galilean moons and Saturn's Mimas.
Third row: Saturn's Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea and Titan.
Fourth row: Saturn's Iapetus, Uranus' Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel and Titania.
Fifth row: Uranus' Oberon, Neptune's Proteus and Triton, and finally Pluto and Charon.
The Sun is in the background, also to scale.

NASA is considering a proposed project called the Terrestrial Planet Finder, which will be capable of detecting terrestrial planets outside of our solar system (orbiting other stars). One suspected terrestrial planet has been discovered orbiting Mu Arae. All other known extrasolar planets are extremely large, and are most likely to be gas giants.

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Topics: Terrestrial Planet, Terrestrial Time, Terrestrial Ecoregion...

Terrestrial TimeThis article is about terrestrial time; for other meanings of TT, see TT (disambiguation . Terrestrial Time TT is the modern time scale that is used instead of ephemeris time, which is obsolete. TT was introduced by the International Astronomical Union (ITerrestrial ecoregionEcoregions are defined by the World Wildlife Fund as "relatively large units of land or water containing a distinct assemblage of natural communities and species, with boundaries that approximate the original extent of natural communities prior to major lTerrestrial planetA terrestrial planet is a planet which 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". Terrest
Terrestrial Planet FinderThe Terrestrial Planet Finder TPF is a proposed NASA telescope system capable of detecting extrasolar terrestrial planets. In May 2002, NASA chose two TPF mission architecture concepts for further study and technology development. Each would use a differeTerrestrial televisionTerrestrial television is the traditional method of television broadcast signal delivery, by radio waves. Terrestrial television broadcasting dates back to the very beginnings of television as a medium itself with the first long distance public televisionTerrestrialTerrestrial literally means 'of the earth' and is used in a variety of contexts: In biology and in the general sense, terrestrial means indicates ground-dwelling (compare aquatic). In broadcasting terrestrial indicates that TV or radio signals are receive
Terrestrial Trunked RadioTerrestrial KingdomTerrestrial Reference Frame
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