The article tells about which planet does not have an atmosphere, why the atmosphere is needed, how it arises, why some celestial bodies are deprived of it, and how it could be created artificially.
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Life on our planet would be impossible if there weren’t an atmosphere on it. And the matter is not only in the oxygen that we breathe, by the way, it contains only a little more than 20%, but also in the fact that it creates the pressure necessary for living beings and protects from solar radiation.
According to a scientific definition, the atmosphere is the gas shell of a planet that rotates with it. In simple terms, a huge accumulation of gas constantly hangs over us, but we will not notice its weight in the same way as the Earth's gravity, because we were born in such conditions and are used to it. But not all celestial bodies were lucky to have it. So which planet has no atmosphere? We will not take the moon into account, since it is still a satellite.
Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Due to such a neighborhood, he experiences monstrous temperature changes on the day and night sides and exposure to strong radiation. The atmosphere on it is recorded by research stations only in a residual manifestation and amounts to a two trillion fraction of the normal earth. Generally speaking, it is not there at all. And substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon are found in negligible amounts. So the question of which planet has no atmosphere The answer is obvious: this is Mercury.
But why is he deprived of it, unlike the Earth or other celestial bodies? The thing is that for its education the appropriate conditions are needed. And Mercury is similar to the Moon in that it is always facing the Sun on one side. On the day side, the temperature reaches 349.9, and on the night side -170 degrees Celsius. Such conditions cannot be called comfortable. And even if there is an atmosphere on it, then on the shadow side the gas will freeze and fall out with solid precipitation, and then, due to a decrease in pressure, the atmosphere will rush in from the sunny side, and everything will end with exactly the same result.
With a question about which planet does not have an atmosphere, they figured out, but what about the other celestial bodies of our system?
Venus
The next planet after Mercury is Venus. The presence of a gas shell on it was discovered by Mikhailo Lomonosov himself. And it is very dense, to such an extent that it was impossible to look through it until the Soviet space station did it in 1970.
The atmosphere of the Earth’s neighbor consists mainly of carbon dioxide, which causes a powerful greenhouse effect, and the temperature on the surface of 400 degrees Celsius and rains of sulfuric acid make it very inhospitable for future researchers. So the atmosphere of the planets is also so infernal.
Mars
On Mars, the conditions are not so hellish, the atmosphere is very rarefied compared with the Earth, and its pressure is 160 times less than that of the surface of our planet. Its gas shell is 95% carbon dioxide. And yet this is the primary candidate for terraforming, because gravity, differences in day and night temperatures and other conditions are quite acceptable. Of course, you won’t live without a spacesuit, but you won’t even fry in the lake of liquid tin, as on Venus.
True, so far these are only plans, and people have not even landed there.
Jupiter
According to scientists, this gas giant could well become another star. But its mass was not enough to squeeze hydrogen in its bowels and start a thermonuclear reaction.
The atmosphere of planets of this type consists mainly of hydrogen, and the processes in it are very stormy. What is the atmospheric whirlwind alone that has been observed for more than three hundred years is the red spot in the lower part of the planet.
Saturn
Like all gas giants, Saturn consists mainly of hydrogen. On it, the winds do not subside, lightnings sparkle and even rare auroras are observed.
Uranus and Neptune
Both planets are hiding a thick layer of clouds of hydrogen, methane and helium. Neptune, by the way, is the record holder for wind speeds on the surface - as much as 700 kilometers per hour!
Pluto
Remembering such a phenomenon as a planet without an atmosphere, it is difficult not to mention Pluto. He, of course, is far from Mercury: its gas shell is “only” 7,000 times less dense than the earth. But still it is the farthest and so far little-known planet. Little is also known about the composition of the atmosphere - only that methane is present in it.
How to create an atmosphere for life
The idea of ​​colonizing other planets haunts scientists from the very beginning of the space age. And especially about the terraformation (the creation on the planet of suitable living conditions without protective equipment). All this is still at the level of hypotheses, but on the same Mars to create an atmosphere is quite realistic. This process is complex and multi-stage, but its main idea is as follows: spray bacteria on the surface that will produce even more carbon dioxide, the density of the gas shell will increase, and the temperature will rise. After this, the melting of the polar glaciers will begin, and due to the increase in pressure, the water will not evaporate without a trace. And then it rains, and the soil becomes suitable for plants.
So we figured out which planet is practically devoid of atmosphere.