• Question: Why are some planets warm and other planets cold?

    Asked by Crazy cole to Rosie on 21 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Rosie Cane

      Rosie Cane answered on 21 Jun 2017:

      Temperature can depend on how far planets are from their star. For example in our solar system, Venus which is close to the Sun is very hot and Neptune which is far from the Sun is very cold!

      The heat of a planet also depends on whether it has an atmosphere or not. An atmosphere is a thin layer of gases that surround a planet – we have one here on Earth! It protects planets from radiation given off by our sun and they also act like a big blanket, keeping that planet warm. Planets that don’t have an atmosphere are generally colder.

      Mars has a very thin, patchy atmosphere, which is not able to keep huge amounts of heat in and so Mars is fairly cold compared to Earth, but it is still close enough to our Sun that it gets some heat from our star 🙂

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