Themes > Science > Earth Sciences > Geology > Earth > Earth's Origin and Structure > Comparative Planetology


Terrestrial Planets

Comparison of the atmospherese of the terrestrial planets
property Venus Earth Mars
pressure 92 bar 1.013 bar 0.007 bar
average Temperature 482°C 15°C -63°C
atmosphere (%)
CO2 .96 .00360 .9532
N2 .03+ .78 .027
Ar2 trace .01 .016
O2 0 .201 .0013

The atmosphere of Venus includes trace amounts of Sulfur dioxide(SO2), water vapor (H2O gas), carbon monoxide (CO), argon (Ar2), helium (He), neon (e), hydrogen chloride (HCl), and hydrogen fluoride (HF).

The atmosphere of Mars contains smaller amounts of:

Carbon Monoxide (CO) = 0.07%
Water (H2O) = 0.03%
Neon (Ne) = 0.00025%
Krypton (Kr) = 0.00003%
Xenon (Xe) = 0.000008%
Ozone (O3) = 0.000003%

Jovian Planets and moons

The moons of Saturn and Jupiter include some bodies which have been proposed as possible sites of prebiotic chemistry.

Origin of the Moon. is complicated by the Moon's composition which is somewhat similar to that of Earth's mantle, but not it's average composition.


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