The Earth is one of the most fascinating of all planets.

It is the home of human beings and other living things. Why can this planet support life? The earth is a sphere covered with rock, water, soil and air. It is just the right distance away from the sun. We all need sunlight and warmth for life. If the earth was too close, it would be too hot for living things and if it were too far, it would be too cold. Also, water is a key element for all living things, and the earth has plenty. The earth's atmosphere consists of 78% Nitrogen, 21% Oxygen, and 1% argon and other gases. It also contains water vapor and dust particles. Clouds float in the troposphere, the lowest part of the atmosphere. The air gets thinner as it gets further from the earth. The earth's crust is about 5 miles thick under the oceans and about 25 miles thick under the continents. Temperatures can reach up to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit. This crust is made of three types of rock; 1) igneous, 2) sedimentary, and 3) metamorphic. Intro. Neptune is the eighth planet from the sun and the fourth largest in diameter. It has a diameter of 30,500 miles. Along with Pluto, it is one of the only planets that cannot be seen without a telescope. Neptune has eight moons and several rings. Like Earth, Neptune is almost completely composed of water. It is often referred to as one of the "Blue Planets." It is also one of the windiest planets in the solar system. Like a typical gas planet, Neptune has rapid winds in its bands and large storms or vortices. Its winds are the fastest in the solar system, even reaching 2000 km/hour. Neptune, along with Jupiter and Saturn, has an internal heat source, radiating more than twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun. Neptune travels around the sun in an elliptical orbit and revolves around the sun every 165 years. It takes this long because Neptune is 2,798,800,000 miles away from the sun. As it makes its revolution, it rotates on its axis. The axis is at a tilt of 30 degrees to the perpendicular. Neptune makes one spin every 16 hours and 7 minutes. Because Pluto's orbit is so eccentric, it sometimes crosses the orbit of Neptune, making Neptune the most distant planet from the Sun for a few years. Characteristics. Neptune is made up of hydrogen, helium, water and minerals known as silicates. The internal atmosphere consists of compressed gases. The first two thirds of Neptune is composed of a mixture of molten rock, water, liquid ammonia and methane. The outer third is a mixture of heated gases comprised of hydrogen, helium, water and methane. Methane gives Neptune its blue cloud color. It is covered by thick clouds. Neptune has many clouds that circle rapidly. Winds blow these clouds up to 700 miles an hour. The clouds furthest from Neptune are composed of methane. The lower clouds are darker and are composed of hydrogen sulfide. Neptune has three basic weather patterns. These are known as the Great Dark Spot, the Small Dark Spot, and Scooter. The Great Dark Spot is a storm system almost as large as Earth! It spins around once every 16 days. It is surrounded by frozen methane clouds which condense over its edges. The Small Dark Spot has a small cloud over its center. Between these two is Scooter, a triangular white cloud lying deep in the atmosphere. Neptune's center is very hot with a temperature of 7,000 degrees Celsius. The heat that Neptune creates is greater than it receives by the sun. Neptune also has rings. One of the rings appears to be slightly twisted. Neptune's rings are very dark but their composition is unknown. They have been named as well, the outermost is Adams (which contains three prominent arcs named Liberty, Equality and Fraternity), next is an unnamed ring co-orbital with Galatea, then Leverrier (whose outer extensions are called Lassell and Arago), and finally Galle.

Intro Uranus is the seventh planet in our solar system. It is the farthest planet that can be seen without the use of a telescope. It is about 1,786,400,000 miles from the sun. The diameter is 31,763 miles. Uranus is made up of a swirl of gases, liquids, and solids. It has no solid surface to stand on. The solids have settled to the center of the planet. These include silicon, iron, and a basalt like rock. The core of Uranus is about the size of Earth. At the outer edge of the core, he solid elements mix with the atmosphere around the rock. It is an ocean that is about 5,000 miles deep. It is thought to be mostly water and a mixture of liquid ammonia and methane. An interesting thing about Uranus' ocean, is that it is extremely hot-almost 8,000 degrees Fahrenheit. At the surface of this ocean, there is a gaseous layer that is 4,000 to 5,000 miles deep. This layer of atmosphere is mostly liquid hydrogen, methane and some helium. The methane gas gives Uranus its blue-green color. Above the gas layer is another layer made of hydrogen and helium. It is necessary that one carefully pronounces this planet's name in order to keep from embarrassment. It is pronounced "YUR-uh-nus" and not (pardon our language) "your anus" nor "urine us". Characteristics Most planets orbit the sun by rotating and creating days and nights as Earth does. Uranus does not. Instead, its poles are on its sides. The planet spins from north to south instead of west to east. It takes it 17.25 hours to spin around completely. It is tilted so far on its side that it actually lies almost level with its orbital path around the sun. Most planets axis' tilt less than 30 degrees, but Uranus tilts at 98 degrees. Traveling on an ovular path around the sun, it speeds through space at 4.25 miles per second. It takes 84 years for it to complete one orbit or one Uranus year. The mass of this planet is 14.5 times larger than that of Earth. Itsdensity is about 1.27 grams per cubic centimeter and the force of gravity is ninety percent of that on Earth. So if one were to weigh 100 pounds on Earth, he would weigh only 90 pounds on Uranus. The atmosphere is composed of many gases. It is 83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane, and it has small amounts of ethane as well as other gases. The temperature of Uranus is about 355 degrees Fahrenheit. The interior temperature can rise fast and even reach up to 4,200 degrees in the ocean and 12,600 degrees at the core. Uranus is surrounded by a strong magnetic field. Most planets have magnetic fields lined up with their north and south poles. But Uranus's magnetic field is closer to theequator than its poles. This makes the magnetic field wobble back and forth as the planet spins. The field's shape is especially strange. It has a long, gently curving tail on the side away from the sun. The tail keeps twisting and turning as the planet moves.