Planetary Science 101
Planetary science is the study of planets, moons, and other small bodies in our solar system. Planetary scientists work across a wide range of fields to learn about everything from planetary atmospheres to interiors. Learn more about planetary science at the USGS below!
What is planetary science?
Planetary science is the study of planetary processes across the solar system. Planetary scientists come from many different fields, including geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Even though these scientists come from different backgrounds, they all use their expertise to better understand the history of our Solar System and how physical processes work on other planets, moons, and small bodies like asteroids and comets. Planetary scientists study all parts of a planetary body (the atmosphere, surface, and interior), the interactions between them, and their potential habitability.
Our Solar System
Our solar system is made up of many different planetary bodies – from solid, rocky planets like Earth and Mars, to gas giants like Jupiter, rocky or icy asteroids like Ceres, and icy moons like Enceladus – one of Saturn’s many moons. What planetary bodies are made of (their composition) depends mostly on how far away from the sun they were when they formed. Bodies that are closer to the sun – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – are solid, rocky bodies. Further away from the sun, it is much colder, and water-ice and other materials like methane are stable at the pressures and temperatures that exist on the surface of the outer satellites. These differences in composition, combined with the different geologic processes that are active on a planetary body create the wide variety of planetary surfaces we see across our solar system today.
How are other planets and moons in our solar system similar to Earth?
Many planetary bodies in our solar system have rocky surfaces that have evolved over time just like the surface of Earth. Planets with atmospheres are more likely to have surface processes similar to Earth because those atmospheres protect against space weathering effects like micrometeorites and radiation from the sun and outer space. All solid bodies in the solar system are affected by the same basic processes: impacts, weathering (either by wind, water, or space), and volcanism, but they look different depending on what the planetary body is made of, how big it is, and if it has an atmosphere.
How are other planetary bodies different from Earth?
Because all the bodies in the solar system are different distances from the sun, they experience very different temperature conditions. Those different temperatures, combined with the different materials that each planetary body is made of, makes some places in our solar system very different from Earth. Here on Earth, we have a water cycle that plays a major role in shaping the surface of our planet. Saturn’s moon Titan has a cycle like Earth’s water cycle, but instead of water, it’s methane and ethane that shape Titan’s surface. This means Titan has rain and lakes, but they’re made of methane instead of water. Other moons of the outer solar system have liquid water and ice, but it’s so cold that they have something Earth doesn’t - cryovolcanism. Cryovolcanism is water-ice volcanism, and is like volcanism on Earth, but the rocks are made of ice and the lava is liquid water! Check out the articles below to learn more about water across our fascinating solar system!
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Tour of Water in the Solar System
Happy Earth Week! This year, the theme for Earth Week is Water. Let’s take a tour of the solar system and see where else water exists, and why it’s so unique that water exists in the forms that it does here on Earth!
USGS Scientists Follow the Water!
The Earth has a lot of water, but that’s not the only place Astrogeology is going in search of this precious resource! Whether it’s finding water on a far-away planet, investigating ways that water can be used as a potential resource for space travel, or sharing about where water can be found in the solar system, Astrogeology scientists are heavily invested in the study of this valuable resource.
‘Cereously’: An Ice Shell of Ceres keeps fiery debates burning
In March 2015, researchers were excited as they waited for details about the dwarf planet Ceres from NASA’s Dawn mission. Further knowledge of the structure, surface, and history of Ceres were long-awaited and in acquisition. Dawn's revelation of the composition of Ceres’ 40-km-thick crust is debated among researchers despite the wealth of data collected.
How do USGS scientists study the solar system?
USGS scientists study the solar system in several different ways. Many scientists use data collected by spacecraft (remote sensing) like orbiters and rovers to observe features on different planetary bodies – but that’s just one way to study space. Sometimes they study locations here on Earth (terrestrial analogs) to better understand what similar processes could look like on other bodies. Planetary scientists also create maps of other planetary bodies to help understand their geologic history, processes, and how the different rocks relate to each other in space and time. They also simulate and test geologic processes through lab experiments and computer models. Learn more about each of these below!
Terrestrial Analogs
Remote Sensing
Lab Analysis
Computer Modeling and Simulations
Mapping
Learn more about planetary science at the USGS by visiting the topics on our Science Explorer page!
Planetary science is the study of planets, moons, and other small bodies in our solar system. Planetary scientists work across a wide range of fields to learn about everything from planetary atmospheres to interiors. Learn more about planetary science at the USGS below!
What is planetary science?
Planetary science is the study of planetary processes across the solar system. Planetary scientists come from many different fields, including geology, physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Even though these scientists come from different backgrounds, they all use their expertise to better understand the history of our Solar System and how physical processes work on other planets, moons, and small bodies like asteroids and comets. Planetary scientists study all parts of a planetary body (the atmosphere, surface, and interior), the interactions between them, and their potential habitability.
Our Solar System
Our solar system is made up of many different planetary bodies – from solid, rocky planets like Earth and Mars, to gas giants like Jupiter, rocky or icy asteroids like Ceres, and icy moons like Enceladus – one of Saturn’s many moons. What planetary bodies are made of (their composition) depends mostly on how far away from the sun they were when they formed. Bodies that are closer to the sun – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – are solid, rocky bodies. Further away from the sun, it is much colder, and water-ice and other materials like methane are stable at the pressures and temperatures that exist on the surface of the outer satellites. These differences in composition, combined with the different geologic processes that are active on a planetary body create the wide variety of planetary surfaces we see across our solar system today.
How are other planets and moons in our solar system similar to Earth?
Many planetary bodies in our solar system have rocky surfaces that have evolved over time just like the surface of Earth. Planets with atmospheres are more likely to have surface processes similar to Earth because those atmospheres protect against space weathering effects like micrometeorites and radiation from the sun and outer space. All solid bodies in the solar system are affected by the same basic processes: impacts, weathering (either by wind, water, or space), and volcanism, but they look different depending on what the planetary body is made of, how big it is, and if it has an atmosphere.
How are other planetary bodies different from Earth?
Because all the bodies in the solar system are different distances from the sun, they experience very different temperature conditions. Those different temperatures, combined with the different materials that each planetary body is made of, makes some places in our solar system very different from Earth. Here on Earth, we have a water cycle that plays a major role in shaping the surface of our planet. Saturn’s moon Titan has a cycle like Earth’s water cycle, but instead of water, it’s methane and ethane that shape Titan’s surface. This means Titan has rain and lakes, but they’re made of methane instead of water. Other moons of the outer solar system have liquid water and ice, but it’s so cold that they have something Earth doesn’t - cryovolcanism. Cryovolcanism is water-ice volcanism, and is like volcanism on Earth, but the rocks are made of ice and the lava is liquid water! Check out the articles below to learn more about water across our fascinating solar system!
-
Tour of Water in the Solar System
Happy Earth Week! This year, the theme for Earth Week is Water. Let’s take a tour of the solar system and see where else water exists, and why it’s so unique that water exists in the forms that it does here on Earth!
USGS Scientists Follow the Water!
The Earth has a lot of water, but that’s not the only place Astrogeology is going in search of this precious resource! Whether it’s finding water on a far-away planet, investigating ways that water can be used as a potential resource for space travel, or sharing about where water can be found in the solar system, Astrogeology scientists are heavily invested in the study of this valuable resource.
‘Cereously’: An Ice Shell of Ceres keeps fiery debates burning
In March 2015, researchers were excited as they waited for details about the dwarf planet Ceres from NASA’s Dawn mission. Further knowledge of the structure, surface, and history of Ceres were long-awaited and in acquisition. Dawn's revelation of the composition of Ceres’ 40-km-thick crust is debated among researchers despite the wealth of data collected.
How do USGS scientists study the solar system?
USGS scientists study the solar system in several different ways. Many scientists use data collected by spacecraft (remote sensing) like orbiters and rovers to observe features on different planetary bodies – but that’s just one way to study space. Sometimes they study locations here on Earth (terrestrial analogs) to better understand what similar processes could look like on other bodies. Planetary scientists also create maps of other planetary bodies to help understand their geologic history, processes, and how the different rocks relate to each other in space and time. They also simulate and test geologic processes through lab experiments and computer models. Learn more about each of these below!
Terrestrial Analogs
Remote Sensing
Lab Analysis
Computer Modeling and Simulations
Mapping
Learn more about planetary science at the USGS by visiting the topics on our Science Explorer page!