2023-05-17 20:00:00
Did you know that Neptune’s characteristic blue color is not determined by its surface but only by its atmosphere? And what about the same with the brownish green of Venus? Or that the redness of Mars is due to its surface being oxidized? Although their round shape is a feature they have in common, the planets of the Solar System present a series of colors that allow differentiate them to the naked eye and not in all cases this is the color of its surface, but it may have its origin in the planet’s own atmosphere.
However, this color may also depend on whether the observation is made from inside or outside the earth’s atmospherebecause it will not be the same to see the planets from Hubble, where there will be nothing between the telescope and the planet, as from within the atmosphere, where the layer of gases, dust, clouds and pollution could alter the vision.
Even so, the color that each planet presents is a very characteristic factor of each one and makes them identifiable whatever the place of observation. A clear example is Martewhose red is visible from Earth and has attracted the attention of its inhabitants since ancient times, nicknamed it “the red planet” or naming it in the same way as the god of war because of its resemblance to the color of blood.
So are the 8 planets of the solar system
mercurio
Mercury is the smallest planet in the entire Solar System, as well as being the closest. This causes it to have a very poor atmosphere, which, due to its minimum thickness and composition, will have no influence on the greyish color and semi-rough texture that shows. Therefore, it is attributed solely to its planetary surface.
NASA
The color comes from its composition, high in iron, silicon oxide, magnesium and various types of sulfides. All of them form the rocks that cover its entire surface, giving it a dull grayish tone. At the same time, with the naked eye it can be seen full of multiple craters, caused by impacts of asteroids and other space objects, which provides a non-uniform gray tone. This is due to the fact that Mercury suffers multiple impacts in the usual way, since its narrow atmosphere is not capable of disintegrating asteroids and these erode the surface when colliding with it.
Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun
venus
Venus is a rocky planet, like Mercury or Earth, but with the difference that its atmosphere is very dense and is made up of several different gases. This thickness hides its surface, causing the atmosphere to be responsible for the characteristic yellowish color of the planet.
This characteristic atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide, sulfuric acid and nitrogen, mostly. The combination of all these gases, together with the incidence of solar radiation is what gives rise to the yellow tones it presents. In fact, these gases are so dense that they do not allow sunlight to reach the surface, and if they did not exist, Venus would have a surface very similar to Earth’s, with a very similar mass and size.
Venus, Earth’s fiery twin planet
TIERRA
As it is presented in all the images of the terrestrial globe, the Earth stands out for its strong blue tone interrupted by small white stripes and certain green or brown areas. This is because 70% of the earth’s surface is water, which reflects the blue tones of the sky, giving rise to that predominant color.
The white stripes belong to the clouds, so these zones will be larger or smaller depending on the area that is observed and its cloudiness. For their part, the green colors They are from forest, grassland or jungle areas, while the brown ones correspond to deserts and mountains.
Planet Earth, our home in the Universe
MARTE
He Red color of Mars is an identifying factor of the planet. On clear and cloudless nights, it is even possible to appreciate that reddish hue from the earth’s surface, without the need to use a telescope. In this case, this strong red is due to the materials on its surface, since its atmosphere, similar in lightness to Earth’s, has only a high content of carbon dioxide and a little oxygen.
NASA
For its part, the surface is covered in its 80% of stone deserts formed by iron oxide. In this way, the little oxygen that exists in the planet’s atmosphere reacts with iron, oxidizing almost its entire surface and giving it that fiery red color. However, it only occurs in the superficial layer, because if you go a little deeper, you will find material that is grayish in color due to the iron that has not yet oxidized.
Mars, the red planet we dream of traveling to
Jupiter
Jupiter is one of the planets in the Solar System, along with Saturn, known as gas giants, that is, planets with a small central solid core and fluids in the form of liquid or gas that are positioned around that center. In the case of Jupiter, it is made up of two majority gases, helium and hydrogen, but it is the minority gases that provide the brown with lighter and darker stripes.
Thus, in the outermost layers, two zones are differentiated: some so-called “belts” that take on a dark brown color and that go around the planet in wide stripes, and other lighter areas that extend between these belts and on the orange-brown background. However, each one has a different origin. The belts are due to areas of the atmosphere where there is a higher concentration of ammonia crystals while, on the other hand, the clear areas appear in the presence of carbon, phosphorus and sulfur. Both combine to give rise to the spectacle of colors that surrounds the planet.
The planet Jupiter, the gas giant of the solar system
Saturn
Beyond its peculiar rings, Saturn draws attention for its orange colors, interrupted by narrow white stripes in a horizontal direction. Like Jupiter, it is a gas giant, so its main composition is again helium and hydrogen, which makes it normal for it to share the characteristic orange colors with its neighbor.
NASA
Saturn photographed by the Cassini probe during its equinox
In your case, the background orange is a bit less intense than on Jupiter, because Saturn has an appreciable amount of ammonia hydrosulfite, which weakens the orange color to a dull yellow. In the case of the white areas, the origin of that color is identical and is due to the presence of ammonia crystals in its atmosphere.
Once upon a time Saturn, a planet stuck to some rings
Uranus
Between green and blue the turquoise tone of Uranus creates fascination on all kinds of observers. The origin of this color is found in the high presence of methane gas in the atmosphere and the fluids that give rise to the planet. When sunlight falls on it, methane absorbs all those colors of the spectrum that are outside the range between blue and green, these being the ones that it reflects and, therefore, those that are seen as characteristic.
Even so, it must be emphasized that in its atmosphere there is also a some amount of water and ammonia. However, its values are much lower than those of methane, being this gas the one that bears all the responsibility of contributing color to the planet.
The planet Uranus, an enigmatic ice giant
Neptune
The composition of Neptune is very similar to that of Uranus, which is why the color of both is very similar, since methane plays a fundamental role in the composition of the atmosphere of both planets. Now, it is enough to take a look at the images to realize that Neptune’s blue is stronger and darker than that of Uranus. This is because Neptune has a higher amount of Helium.
Neptune, the blue and icy planet from the far reaches of the solar system
Thus, the helium causes the color absorption range vary a little bit, absorbing closer to red, that is, greener tones. Therefore, the result of the colors that it reflects and that can be seen is focused solely on blue and mauve, allowing the planet to adopt a much bluer color than its companion.
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