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The Planetary Zoo

Explore the diverse and fascinating worlds of our solar system, from the fiery volcanoes of Venus to the icy landscapes of Europa and the hazy atmosphere of Titan.

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The Planetary Zoo

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  1. The Planetary Zoo

  2. Mercury

  3. Venus http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/planets.html

  4. Venus Radar image penetrating through the thick atmosphere

  5. Venus – color coded by elevation http://www.transit-of-venus.org.uk/downloads.htm

  6. Venus – computer generated view of surface http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-venus.html

  7. Moon Earth

  8. Venus and Earth Compared http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/venus_002.htm

  9. Mars

  10. Earth and Mars Compared http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/mars_002.htm

  11. Mars ccce.51.net/down/ screen/mars.htm

  12. Mars http://www.mmedia.is/~bjj/3dtest/

  13. Mars http://www.aerospaceguide.net/space_pictures.html

  14. MARS: Southern polar cap during the evening seen from ground level “Snow" is mostly frozen carbon dioxide frost with small amounts of water ice. Winter temperatures here can fall as low as - 190º F. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/mars_040.htm

  15. MARS: View from the flank of Olympus Mons Olympus Mons is one of the highest volcanoes on Mars. In this view we are near the rim of the shield wall, about three miles above the plains beyond. The summit continues to rise behind us to an altitude of 15 miles (nearly three times higher than Earth's Mount Everest). Clouds composed of water ice crystals have been observed in this region during the summer season. Here they blanket a hazy, salmon sky. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/mars_060.htm

  16. Io Europa Ganymede Calisto Jupiter

  17. Jupiter and its moons http://www.jb.man.ac.uk/public/planets.html

  18. Europa Io Callisto Ganymede Jupiter's four largest satellites, compared in size to the Earth and Moon.

  19. Jupiter's hydrogen sea Miles beneath Jupiter's brown clouds of ammonia, hydrogen and helium lies a mysterious realm where the weight of the atmosphere above far exceeds the pressures found in Earth's deepest oceans. It is believed that in this realm, somewhere between Jupiter's cloud tops and the jovian core, the atmosphere gives way to a planet-wide ocean of liquid hydrogen. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/jupiter_020.htm

  20. Io - a geyser erupts Io is the most volcanically active body known in the Solar System. Eruptions are so common this moon has likely resurfaced itself many times. In this image a plume of liquid sulfur dioxide rises more 200 miles above Io's surface. In the foreground are the remains of old lava flows composed of silicate rocks, sulfur, and sulfur compounds. Io has a very thin sulfur dioxide atmosphere and a surface temperature of - 225º F. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/jupiter_040.htm

  21. Jupiter as seen from Europa Europa is Jupiter's fourth largest moon and is slightly smaller than the Earth's Moon. Europa is believed to be composed of silicate rocks with a layer of water ice covering the entire surface. This image is inspired by recent discoveries on Europa of regions that look very much like pack-ice on Earth's polar seas during spring thaws. It may be that beneath Europa's surface ice there is a layer of liquid water, perhaps as much as 30 miles deep.. If Europa does indeed harbor a liquid water ocean, it would be the only place in the Solar System besides Earth where liquid water exists in significant quantities. It may also be the only place in the Solar System where life has evolved outside the Earth. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/jupiter_080.htm

  22. Callisto - a jovian eclipse as seen from Callisto Looking at Jupiter from Callisto's north pole. The eclipsed Sun is about to emerge from behind Jupiter's right limb. Callisto is the most distant of Jupiter's four large moons. It is smaller than Ganymede, but larger than Io and Europa. Like Europa, Callisto may harbor an ocean of liquid water beneath its crust of ice and rock. Callisto's crust is thought to be about 100 miles thick, so it is unlikely that this ocean is host to any life forms, if indeed it does exist. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/jupiter_110.htm

  23. Ganymede - frost-covered ridges Highly reflective frost covers a series of ridges, or grooves, running for hundreds of miles and probably formed when tectonic forces pulled apart Ganymede's icy surface. Similar sets of faults occur in rift zones on Earth, as in eastern Africa. Ganymede is Jupiter's largest moon and is larger than the planet Mercury. Much of the surface of Ganymede is covered by water ice and has no known atmosphere. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/jupiter_100.htm

  24. Saturn Titan Tethys Iapetus

  25. http://www.astrosurf.com/lombry/hommage-sondes.htm

  26. Cassini at Titan in 2002 http://www.resa.net/nasa/titan.htm

  27. Titan Revealed It is not known what lies beneath Titan's obscuring haze. but Titan's atmosphere is one-and-a-half times as dense as the Earth's. Its is roughly 90% nitrogen and 10% other complex molecules such as methane. The thick haze would make it unlikely that a visitor to Titan's surface could look up and see Saturn itself. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/saturn_017.htm

  28. Saturn as seen from atop Titan's hydrocarbon haze Saturn viewed from just above Titan's hydrocarbon haze, 50 miles above Titan's surface and three-quarters of a million miles away from Saturn itself. This haze is chilled to a frigid minus 330º F. In this image the presence of gaseous ethane and methane in Titan's upper atmosphere yields a bluish, earthlike sky, albeit darker due to Titan's great distance from the sun. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/saturn_015.htm

  29. Titan's ethane ocean Titan is about ten times further from the sun than Earth, leaving it with an average surface temperature of minus 290º F.  If there is any water on Titan it is hard as steel, yet Titan's ocean, if it has one, would probably be composed of very cold liquid ethane. Beneath this ocean may lie hundreds of feet of frozen acetylene (a common gaseous component of welder's torches on the Earth). Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/saturn_020.htm

  30. Titania Uranus

  31. Uranus as seen from Puck This is how Uranus and its tiny moon Puck might look from a position in orbit around Puck. Puck in turn orbits Uranus at a height of 37 thousand miles above Uranus' cloud tops, completing one orbit in about 18 hours. Due to the fact that Puck's orbit is on the same plane as Uranus' rings, they would appear as little more than a thin line from this vantage point. http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/uranus_040.htm

  32. Triton Neptune

  33. Sunrise on Triton A diminutive sun rises over Triton's hard and glistening landscape of rock, frozen water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and methane. The little warmth that reaches Triton's surface induces a nitrogen and methane haze, forming a very tenuous atmosphere. It is very cold on Triton with temperatures falling as low as minus 391º F. While as much as 25% of Triton may be composed of water ice, it is very unlikely that there is any liquid water, or life, on this world. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/neptune_016.htm

  34. Triton: a five mile high geyser Triton's low surface gravity and tenuous nitrogen atmosphere allows a volcanic geyser to erupt to an extraordinary height. Winds high above the surface carry the ejecta dozens of miles away from its source. This view is from an altitude of several hundred feet above Triton's south pole. Walter Myers Computer Graphic Vistas http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/neptune_050.htm

  35. Pluto http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/gallery/image_gallery/solar_system/solar_pluto.html

  36. Winter on Pluto Pluto is an extremely cold world where frozen nitrogen, carbon monoxide and methane may blanket the surface like snow during most of its 248 year "plutonian" year. These ices have been transformed from white to a pinkish-brown due to interactions with gamma rays from deep space and the distant Sun. The average surface temperature on Pluto is - 350º F. http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/pluto_010.htm

  37. Pluto Pluto is a small world, about 1500 miles in diameter making it smaller than Mercury and even our Moon. Pluto does have a moon orbiting around it, though the two are quite close in size. http://starryskies.com/articles/dln/7-99/pluto.html

  38. Earth, Pluto, Charon, and Earth's Moon compared http://www.arcadiastreet.com/cgvistas/pluto_005.htm

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