Every morning we get up and check how the weather will be in our city (or destination to which we go). But regardless of whether it rains or is sunny, the conditions on Earth are unique. What is the weather like on the other planets of the Solar System? Neither offers a chance for life, although there are futuristic terraforming projects in places like Mars.
With the help of NASA we reviewed what the weather is like on the other planets in our solar system.
MERCURY
A vacation on Mercury would turn into a real disaster because it is so close to the Sun that the temperatures are extremely high. During the day, the Sun would look three times larger and more than 10 times brighter than on Earth.
Those solar rays cause temperatures to rise to 427 ℃. And at night, as there is no atmosphere that can maintain the heat of the day, temperatures reach -149 ℃.
VENUS
While one may think that, because Mercury is so close to the Sun, it would take the award for being the warmest planet in the entire Solar System, we will find that that title actually goes to Venus.
Venus is covered by a dense atmosphere of carbon dioxide, and its clouds are made of sulfuric acid. Both form the so-called greenhouse effect: they trap heat and warm the planet. Venus can reach temperatures of up to 452 ℃. If Venus had oceans, they would have long since disappeared.
MARS
Daytime temperatures on Mars are close to winter temperatures on Earth and can go as low as 0 ℃. But the thin atmosphere of Mars cannot keep warm from the Sun and, at night, temperatures are around -93 degrees Celsius.
Orbiters and rovers that have been studying Mars have discovered that it is quite possible that at some point in the past there was a lot of water on the red planet. But the amount of water remaining is not enough to form a water cycle like the one we have on Earth, so we can say that Mars is practically a desert.
Furthermore, deserts on Mars experience impressive dust storms that can leave the planet completely covered for several weeks. Wind patterns also generate “dust devils,” a kind of desert tornado.
JUPITER
Jupiter is a gas giant, which means it does not have a solid surface to stand on. But, with that said, we can observe its weather anyway.
Jupiter is a stormy planet, most famous for its Great Red Spot. In reality, this stain is a violent storm that has lasted at least 300 years. But the Great Red Spot is not the only storm Jupiter has. The entire planet is covered by clumps of clouds that swirl high in the atmosphere and are most likely composed of ammonia.
SATURN
When we get to Saturn, another gas giant, and see its precious rings, we are already very far from the Sun: about 1,448 million kilometers. That’s almost twice the distance from Jupiter. That distance also means experiencing average temperatures of about -140 ℃.
The closest climate to ours in the Solar System is found on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Scientists believe that Titan has seasons, clouds that bring rain, and an atmosphere made largely of nitrogen, like ours.
But the bad news is that more than a water cycle, Titan has cycles of a chemical component called methane. The rain that falls from clouds is methane and falls on lakes, rivers and seas.
URANUS
Uranus is famous as an ice giant and lives up to its name: it reaches temperatures of -182 ℃. Also, its axis is lopsided about 98 ℉. Scientists believe that the impact of some object in the past caused it to tilt.
Because Uranus is so far away, it takes 84 Earth years to complete one orbit. And each season lasts 21 Earth years.
The twisted axis of Uranus is the cause of some strange changes in its seasons during its orbit around the Sun. In summer and winter, in many parts of the planet it is day or night throughout the season, that is, for 21 years . In spring, Uranus cycles through night and day every 17 hours. This planet also has some impressive storms. It is very likely that this cycle of seasons is one of the reasons why these storms occur.
NEPTUNO
Neptune is very, very far away: an average of 4,506 million kilometers from the Sun. That means that this icy giant has very cold temperatures. The average temperature on Neptune is -182 ℃.
If this temperature sounds familiar, it is because Uranus is almost at the same temperature. Why these two planets are at the same temperature, despite being at such different distances from the Sun, remains a mystery.
Neptune has a dense atmosphere and is covered by constantly changing clouds that revolve around the planet. The wind dominates Neptune: it can reach 1,931 kilometers per hour, the strongest in the Solar System.
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