Are terrestrial planets really that similar to Earth? What to know about their composition

SCIENCE

BY MAIA MULKO

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SCIENCE

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There are four terrestrial planets in our solar system, and billions of them are outside our solar system.

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Terrestrial planets are made of rock and silicate around a metallic core.

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Earth is the largest terrestrial planet in our solar system.

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NASA estimates that there could be more than 10 billion terrestrial planets in the Milky Way.

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However, just because a planet is classified as terrestrial, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily habitable.

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For example, in the solar system, Mercury and Venus are too hot for life to thrive, and Mars is likely too cold.

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NASA/JPL-Caltech

 Apart from this, Mercury and Mars do not have a protective, breathable atmosphere like Earth's, and Venus has an extremely dense and toxic one.

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 Outside of the Solar System, Kepler-10b was the first confirmed terrestrial planet discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope.

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