Empire of the Sun: The Solar System

Mercury

Closest to the sun, fastest on the run

Mariner 10 flew by; first of 3 in 1974.

Looking much like our moon

Meteorites have scarred your face

Craters have caused concentric rings

Of mountains all around, your core has contracted

Your face is old and puckered, creased into ridges

You are too small for atmosphere

No protective air to be seen here

You are scorched by day (350 deg C +)

Frozen by night (-170 deg C)

Venus

Your beauty is beguiling in our skies

Yet your surface is desolation

A wasteland of rocks roasted

In the highest of temperatures

Soviet Veneras; 4, 5 and 6

Were crushed by your intense atmosphere

(90 times that of Earth)

Mariner 10 flew by on its way to Mercury

U.S. Pioneer Venus; orbiting since 1978

Has told of your ways:

Atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide

Traps more heat than it radiates (+475 deg C)

Creating your pressure cooker conditions as

Volcanic eruptions belch sulphur dioxide into your skies

Mars

Superficially similar to Earth

Might there be life on Mars?

You day’s length and axis’ tilt

Are almost identical to ours,

Even ice caps at your poles

Your rust red soil

And salmon pink skies (-23 deg C)

Indicate the absence of life.

Limited frozen water supplies

Little or no oxygen

And no ozone layer to protect you

From the Sun’s ultraviolet radiation

Jupiter

O mighty Jupiter you of us all

Almost became a star!

Your mass has attracted 16 satellites

The four largest being Io; Ganymede

Europa and Callisto

A vast bulk of gases wreathes you

In a kaleidoscope of swirling clouds

Voyagers 1 & 2 have shown us much:

Your great red spot

A cloud system 3 times the size of Earth

Underneath this colourful sky

Hydrogen and helium are so compressed

By your force of gravity

That they behave like liquid metals

In the ocean surrounding your rocky core

Your frozen icy temperatures

(-123 deg C) at the cloud tops