Terrestrial planet from the original solar nebula. The Solar System has four terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars. Only one terrestrial planet, Earth, is known to have an active hydrosphere. During the formation of the Solar System, there were probably many more terrestrial planetesimals, but most merged with or were ejected by the four terrestrial planets. Dwarf planets, such as Ceres, Pluto and Eris, and small Solar System bodies are similar to terrestrial planets in the fact that they do have a solid surface, but are, on average, composed of more icy materials (Ceres, Pluto and Eris have densities of 2.17,
Giant planet These structures are huge storms. Some such spots are thunderheads as well. Giant planet A giant planet is any massive planet. They are usually primarily composed of low-boiling-point materials (gases or ices), rather than rock or other solid matter, but massive solid planets can also exist. There are four known giant planets in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Many extrasolar giant planets have been identified orbiting other stars. Giant planets are also sometimes called jovian planets, after Jupiter ("Jove" being another name for the Roman god "Jupiter"). They are also sometimes known as gas giants. However, many