Terrestrial planet Terrestrial planet A terrestrial planet, telluric planet, or rocky planet is a planet that is composed primarily of silicate rocks or metals. Within the Solar System, the terrestrial planets are the inner planets closest to the Sun, i.e. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. The terms "terrestrial planet" and "telluric planet" are derived from Latin words for Earth ("Terra" and "Tellus"), as these planets are, in terms of structure, "Earth-like". Terrestrial planets have a solid planetary surface, making them substantially different from the larger giant planets, which are composed mostly of some combination of hydrogen, helium, and water existing in various
Water atm, water boils at . At very low pressures (below about 0.006 atm), water cannot exist in the liquid state and passes directly from solid to gas by sublimation—a phenomenon exploited in the freeze drying of food. At very high pressures (above 221 atm), the liquid and gas states are no longer distinguishable, a state called supercritical steam. Water also differs from most liquids in that it becomes less dense as it freezes. The maximum density of water in its liquid form (at 1 atm) is ; that occurs at . The density of ice is . Thus, water expands