Top 5 Planets
Venus
Its atmosphere has constant lightning and is so dense the first few Venera probes sent by the Russians were crushed before reaching the ground, and the ones that managed to land unscathed only lasted an hour or so before melting, there is sulphuric acid rain, the entire surface of the planet features evidence of volcanic activity, and the entire planet leaves a tail behind it in space, much like a comet, due to the Sun’s solar wind! Oh, and it looks like a really bright star from here…
Saturn
Because it has rings, of course! Oh, and it’s got such a low density it would float in water (if there was a bowl big enough)…
Mars
One reason could be Olympus Mons, a volcano three times higher than Mount Everest, and over 500 km wide at its base. Another could be Valles Marineris (see picture), an immense canyon 4000 km long (compared with the Grand Canyon on Earth at 446 km). But let’s face it – the main reason is because it has Martians!
Earth
The largest and most diverse of the terrestrial planets, and home to many natural wonders of amazing beauty, and many species of plant and animal life. Unfortunately the dominant species is an ignorant, self-destructive, and irresponsible one which is slowly destroying the aforementioned natural beauty in the name of comfort and convenience. Would be in the number one spot were it not for them…
Jupiter
What else? The gargantuan Jupiter is two and a half times as massive as all the other planets in the Solar System combined, has such immense gravity that it ‘squeezes’ its nearest large moon, Io, causing constant volcanic eruptions (and also stopped the asteroids inside its orbit from coelescing into a fifth terrestrial planet), has such an enormous magnetic field that, if visible from Earth, would make it appear as large as the Sun, despite being over five times further away, has a moon bigger than some planets (coughMercurycough), has its own (though lesser known) ring system, and of course… The Great Red Spot! A hurricane-like storm three times bigger than Earth that has already lasted for hundreds of years! Yeah!
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