How Seasons Work on Other Planets

Bright Side

Our Earth isn't the only planet that has seasons! Take Mars, for example—it's got these wild dust storms that kick up during its spring and summer, making things pretty chaotic. And get this—on Uranus, the whole planet basically tilts sideways, so it's like one long, chilly winter all the time. Jupiter's got these crazy wind patterns that whip around its atmosphere, creating these massive storm systems that rage for ages. On Venus, there ain't much of a season game 'cause it's like a perpetual summer party with scorching hot temps all year round.  So yeah, while Earth's got its seasonal quirks, our cosmic pals out there have some seriously out-of-this-world weather antics too!  #brightside   Animation is created by Bright Side.  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/   Listen to Bright Side on:  Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/idhttps-podcasts-apple-com-podcast-bright-side/id1554898078 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/brightside/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official/ Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Snapchat - https://www.snapchat.com/p/c6a1e38a-bff1-4a40-9731-2c8234ccb19f/1866144599336960  Stock materials (photos, footages and other):  https://www.depositphotos.com  https://www.shutterstock.com  https://www.eastnews.ru  ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me

Transcript

00:00Uranus has a 22-year-long winter. On a planet like that, if it was habitable, everything

00:06would be frozen and covered in ice, white and gray desert all around. People would have

00:11to stock up on food and supplies, make extra sturdy buildings and homes, and always wear

00:16thick warm clothes. Finally, transportation would be next to impossible. But thanks to

00:22the Sun, each planet in our Solar System has unique weather, climate, and seasons. There

00:27are several reasons contributing to that. First of all, it's all about how far a planet

00:34is from the Sun. If a planet is close, like our neighbor Mercury, it gets a severe sunbath.

00:40But if it's far away, like the dwarf planet Pluto, it gets frigid even during summer.

00:45Now, think about how fast a planet spins. Planets that take their sweet time to rotate,

00:51like Mercury, have super long days and nights. That means one side gets toasty hot when the

00:57Sun's out and freezing cold when it's dark. Earth is pretty balanced with its moderate

01:02spin speed. The atmosphere matters too. A thick atmosphere keeps temperatures from going

01:08wild. But if there's almost no atmosphere, things heat up and cool down immensely. The

01:14tilt of a planet's axis and the orbit shape are crucial as well. Even on Earth, places

01:20near the poles get 6 months of daylight and 6 months of night. And if a planet's path

01:25around the Sun is like an oval, it heats up and cools down more than it moves.

01:31No two planets are unique. While some have these changes, others don't. Let's start

01:36with Mars, our favorite little planet and potentially our future home. It's the fourth

01:41wheel in our solar system and has a quirky way of doing seasons. Like Earth, it has four

01:47of them, although they're roughly twice as long as those on Earth. But this planet has

01:52an eccentric egg-shaped orbit. Because of this, its orbital speed varies more. This

01:57influences these seasons. Martian winters last about 4 Earth months. They're also much

02:03colder than on Earth. Near the poles in winter, temperatures can get down to minus 190 degrees

02:09Fahrenheit. One hemisphere grows an ice cap as winter rolls in, snatching about a quarter

02:15of the atmosphere as dry ice. Then, in spring, it gives it back. Mars also doesn't have the

02:21luxury of massive oceans like Earth to balance out its extreme temperatures. Scientists believe

02:26it might have had some of that in its early days, but now all the water is gone. With

02:32no water, Mars can hit very low temperatures in winter and hotter summer days.

02:40The grand gas giant Saturn has a slightly more tilted axis than Earth. However, despite

02:46its elliptical path and tilt, it stays consistently chilly. That's because it's way out there,

02:52far from the Sun's warmth. Even though it's summer, Saturn remains distant and doesn't

02:57get too cozy. It also has a thick atmosphere. The atmosphere on a planet acts like a temperature

03:03regulator. If some part gets too hot or cold, the atmosphere gently distributes this temperature

03:09across the planet. So, while one side might catch more sunlight during its equinox, the

03:15thick air ensures things stay relatively cool. Up high in Saturn's atmosphere, though, it's

03:21a different story. Temperatures can swing from seriously chilly in summer to an almost

03:26absurd minus 312 degrees Fahrenheit in winter. Uranus is the next planet, the ice giant.

03:35With an elliptical orbit and a serious distance from the Sun, it's stuck in a perpetual deep

03:40Its thick atmosphere also keeps temperatures frosty throughout the year.

03:45Uranus has a wild tilt, three times bigger than Earth's. It's almost lying on its side,

03:50and is probably one of the most intense places in our Solar System. During Uranus' summer,

03:56one pole gets full Sun while the other end faces the deep chill of darkness. In fact,

04:02because of its weird tilt and rotation, Uranus is even colder than its more distant neighbor Neptune.

04:08As we mentioned, each season on Uranus lasts around 22 Earth years. That's as close as we

04:14get to George Martin's fantasy books. That's because Uranus takes a leisurely 84 years

04:19to complete one path around the Sun, so its journey through the year is very slow.

04:27The final planet in our Solar System is Neptune. It's the most far-away icy giant.

04:32It has a tilt almost the same as Earth's and a nearly circular orbit, so it feels like it's

04:37supposed to be a bit more balanced. However, this planet maintains a bone-chilling atmosphere with

04:43unimaginably low temperatures. That's because Neptune receives only a tiny 0.1% of the sunlight

04:50Earth enjoys. On Earth, there's a gradual temperature shift from near to far. On Neptune,

04:57because of its circular orbit, there's only one atmosphere taking a spotlight.

05:01Unlike its neighbor Uranus, Neptune gets a bit of warmth from its core.

05:05But this warmth doesn't help much. The cold is pretty consistent, whether it's winter or summer.

05:13But some planets don't bother with traditional seasons. They just imitate them by having

05:18different temperature cycles throughout the year. These planets include Mercury, Venus, Mars,

05:23and Jupiter. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. Mercury is very weird because one full

05:30day-night cycle on that planet equals 176 Earth days. After half a year on Earth, it's finally

05:37time for Mercury people to go back home from work. That's because it moves in an egg path.

05:43This is also the reason why it has some wild temperature changes. Sometimes it's very close

05:48to the Sun, sometimes it's not. At the same time, it has no atmosphere and no protection from the

05:54Sun. This results in extremely hot days and extremely cold nights. But that means it has

06:00plenty of time to go from scorching hot to freezing cold. When it's farthest, that's Mercury's true

06:06winter, or at least how we call it. So if it had seasons, there would only be two.

06:11The next planet is Venus. It's a planet of relentless heat. Forget about seasons,

06:16it's just plain hot there all the time. It's super close to the Sun, and its almost circular

06:21orbit and tiny tilt of 3 degrees mean temperatures stay pretty steady throughout the year. Even in

06:28the supposed winter or the middle of the night, the temperature doesn't dip below 820 degrees

06:33Fahrenheit. It also decided to have a weird spin. Venus spins in the same direction as the Sun,

06:39Venus spins in the same direction as it moves around the Sun. That means the Sun is always

06:44right overhead, pouring its entire fiery love on the planet's surface. Venus doesn't really do the

06:51seasons like Earth. The closest they have to seasons is 225 days with at least 4 hours of

06:57sunlight. This you could call Venus' version of spring and fall. Jupiter, the big guy in our

07:05solar system, doesn't bother with the whole seasons drama. It keeps things simple with a

07:10tiny tilt of 3 degrees, almost as laid back as Mercury. Plus, its orbit is a close match to a

07:16perfect circle, so it doesn't have much variation in sunlight. Also, with a speedy rotation of less

07:22than 10 Earth hours, there's no time for the appearance of seasons from long nights. Winter

07:27on Jupiter is basically a repeat of any other time of the year. And finally, Pluto, which is still

07:34not a planet, but still worth looking at. Pluto resides on the outskirts of our solar system.

07:40This little outcast is the definition of cold. The temperatures are around minus 380 degrees

07:46Fahrenheit. It has the weirdest orbit, too. Its orbit is very long, elliptical, and tilted.

07:52Pluto travels a huge distance from the Sun. That, together with an almost non-existent atmosphere,

07:58keeps Pluto in a perpetual cold state. Winters there can get a bit more extreme than average.

08:04However, the biggest shift someone stranded on Pluto would notice isn't the temperature,

08:09but the Sun's brightness. Always thousands of times fainter than our Earthly view.

08:17That's it for today! So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and

08:21share it with your friends. Or, if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright

08:26Side!

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