The Atmospheres of the Planets

Abstract

The atmospheres of the planets have markedly different compositions from that of the Sun, and the origin of these differences is a fascinating study of the chemistry and physics of the elements which has been pursued by many scholars. The planetary atmospheres consist of hydrogen, helium and the other inert gases and compounds of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen to the exclusion in a high degree of any other elements. Moreover, these atmospheres in some cases have surely changed their chemical composition during the time since the solar system can be said with some precision to have originated. These chemical changes depend upon the chemical properties of the compounds of these elements, the electromagnetic and particle radiation from the Sun, the relative proportions of the elements, the temperatures of the planets and other factors. The terrestrial planets have atmospheres which are very thin, while the atmospheres of the major planets are very deep and hence the two groups present quite different problems. Because of our better understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere it will be discussed in detail first and then other atmospheres will be compared with that of the Earth.KeywordsScale HeightCloud LayerTerrestrial PlanetPlanetary AtmosphereParticle RadiationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.