What is planets made of

Within the frost line, temperatures were too high for hydrogen ices to form. The only solid particles were made of metal and rock.

Beyond the frost line, where hydrogen compounds could condense, the solid particles included ices as well as metal and rock. While terrestrial planets accreted from planetesimals made of rocks and metals, they ended up too small to capture significant amounts of the abundant hydrogen and helium gas in the solar nebula. The jovian planets, however, formed farther from the Sun where ices and rocks were plentiful. The cores accreted rapidly into large clumps of ice and rock.

Eventually, they got so large, they captured a large amount of hydrogen and other gasses from the surrounding nebula with their enormous gravity. The atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium , although there is some evidence they contain hydrogen compounds.

Uranus and Neptune are made primarily of hydrogen compounds, with smaller traces of hydrogen, helium, metal and rock. The farther away a planet is from the Sun, the cooler its atmosphere will be.

This means that the same gases will condense to form clouds at different altitudes on different planets because the condensation of a gas requires a specific amount of pressure and temperature. Exoplanet Travel Bureau. This set of travel posters envision a day when the creativity of scientists and engineers will allow us to do things we can only dream of now. Strange New Worlds. Explore an interactive gallery of some of the most intriguing and exotic planets discovered so far.

Historic Timeline. A planetary tour through time. More on FromQuarkstoQuasars. Keep up. Subscribe to our daily newsletter to keep in touch with the subjects shaping our future. Topics About Us Contact Us.

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