The sequence of planets in the solar system starting from the sun. The younger brother of the Earth is the fourth planet from the Sun
The names of the planets of the solar system: where do they come from?
About the origin of the name of which planet humanity still does not know anything? The answer will surprise you...
Most of the cosmic bodies in the universe got their names in honor of the ancient Roman and ancient Greek deities. Modern names of the planets in the solar system are also associated with ancient mythological characters. And only one planet is an exception to this list: its name has nothing to do with the ancient gods. What space object are we talking about? Let's figure it out.
Planets of the solar system.
Science knows exactly about the existence of 8 planets of the solar system. Not so long ago, scientists expanded this list with the discovery of the ninth planet, the name of which has not yet been officially announced, so let's leave it alone for now. Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, due to their location and gigantic size, are combined into a single, external group. Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury belong to the terrestrial inner group.
The location of the planets.
Until 2006, Pluto was considered a planet in the solar system, but careful exploration of outer space has changed the idea of this object. It has been classified as the largest body in the Kuiper belt. Pluto has been given the status of a dwarf planet. Known to mankind since 1930, it owes its name to Oxford schoolgirl Venice Burney. By voting astronomers, the choice fell on the option of an eleven-year-old girl who proposed to name the planet in honor of the Roman god - the patron of the underworld and death.
Pluto and its moon Charon.
Its existence became known back in the middle of the 19th century (1846), when the cosmic body was discovered by mathematical calculations by John Coach Adams and Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. The name of the new planet in the solar system caused a discussion between astronomers: each of them wanted to perpetuate his last name in the name of the object. To end the dispute, they proposed a compromise - the name of the god of the seas from ancient Roman mythology.
Neptune: The name of a planet in the solar system.
Initially, the planet had several names. Discovered in 1781, they decided to christen it after the discoverer W. Herschel. The scientist himself wanted to honor the British ruler George III with a similar honor, but astronomers were asked to continue the tradition of their ancestors and, like the 5 most ancient planets, give a “divine” name to the cosmic body. The main contender was the Greek god of the sky Uranus.
Uranus.
The existence of a giant planet was known even in the pre-Christian era. Choosing the name, the Romans decided to focus on the God of agriculture.
The giant planet Saturn.
The name of the Roman supreme god is imprinted in the name of the planet of the solar system - the largest of them. Like Saturn, Jupiter has been known for a very long time, because it was not difficult to see a giant in the sky.
Jupiter.
The reddish tint of the planet's surface is associated with bloodshed, which is why the god of war among the Romans gave the name to the space object.
"Red Planet" Mars.
Almost nothing is known about the name of our home planet. Surely we can say that its name has nothing to do with mythology. The first mention of the modern name of the planet is recorded in 1400. It is associated with the Anglo-Saxon term for soil or soil - "Earth". But who called the Earth "earth" - there is no information.
Not so long ago, any educated person, when asked how many planets are in the solar system, would answer without hesitation - nine. And he would be right. If you do not particularly follow the events in the world of astronomy and are not a regular viewer of the Discovery Channel, then today you will answer the same question to the question posed. However, this time you will be wrong.
And here's the thing. In 2006, namely, on August 26, 2.5 thousand participants in the congress of the International Astronomical Union made a sensational decision and actually crossed out Pluto from the list of planets in the solar system, since 76 years after the discovery it ceased to meet the requirements set by scientists for the planets.
Let's first understand what a planet is, and also how many planets in the solar system astronomers have left us, and consider each of them separately.
A bit of history
Previously, a planet was considered to be any body that revolves around a star, glows with light reflected from it, and has a size larger than that of asteroids.
Even in ancient Greece, seven luminous bodies were mentioned that move across the sky against the background of fixed stars. These cosmic bodies were: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Earth was not included in this list, since the ancient Greeks considered the Earth to be the center of all things. And only in the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus, in his scientific work entitled “On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres,” came to the conclusion that not the Earth, but the Sun, should be in the center of the planetary system. Therefore, the Sun and the Moon were removed from the list, and the Earth was added to it. And after the advent of telescopes, Uranus and Neptune were added, in 1781 and 1846, respectively.
Pluto was considered the last discovered planet in the solar system from 1930 until recently.
And now, almost 400 years after Galileo Galilei created the world's first telescope for observing stars, astronomers have come to the next definition of a planet.
Planet- this is a celestial body that must satisfy four conditions:
the body must revolve around a star (for example, around the Sun);
the body must have sufficient gravity to be spherical or close to it;
the body should not have other large bodies near its orbit;
The body does not have to be a star.
In its turn star- This is a cosmic body that emits light and is a powerful source of energy. This is explained, firstly, by the thermonuclear reactions occurring in it, and secondly, by the processes of gravitational compression, as a result of which a huge amount of energy is released.
Planets of the solar system today
solar system- This is a planetary system that consists of a central star - the Sun - and all natural space objects revolving around it.
So, today the solar system consists of of the eight planets: four inner, so-called terrestrial planets, and four outer planets, called gas giants.
The terrestrial planets include Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars. All of them consist mainly of silicates and metals.
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The composition of gas giants consists mainly of hydrogen and helium.
The sizes of the planets in the solar system vary both within groups and between groups. So, the gas giants are much larger and more massive than the terrestrial planets.
Closest to the Sun is Mercury, then as far as the distance: Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
It would be wrong to consider the characteristics of the planets of the solar system without paying attention to its main component: the Sun itself. Therefore, we will start with it.
The sun 
The sun is the star that gave rise to all life in the solar system. Planets, dwarf planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets, meteorites and cosmic dust revolve around it.
The Sun arose about 5 billion years ago, is a spherical, hot plasma ball and has a mass that is more than 300 thousand times the mass of the Earth. The surface temperature is over 5,000 degrees Kelvin, and the core temperature is over 13 million K.
The Sun is one of the largest and brightest stars in our galaxy, which is called the Milky Way Galaxy. The Sun is located at a distance of about 26 thousand light years from the center of the Galaxy and makes a complete revolution around it in about 230-250 million years! For comparison, the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 1 year.
Mercury
Mercury is the smallest planet in the system and is closest to the Sun. Mercury has no satellites.
The surface of the planet is covered with craters that arose about 3.5 billion years ago as a result of massive bombardments by meteorites. The diameter of the craters can range from a few meters to more than 1000 km.
The atmosphere of Mercury is highly rarefied, consists mainly of helium and is blown by the solar wind. Since the planet is located very close to the Sun and does not have an atmosphere that would keep warm at night, the temperature on the surface ranges from -180 to +440 degrees Celsius.
By earthly standards, Mercury makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 days. On the other hand, a Mercury day is equal to 176 Earth days.
Venus
Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun in the solar system. Venus is only slightly smaller than Earth, which is why it is sometimes referred to as "Earth's sister". Has no satellites.
The atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide mixed with nitrogen and oxygen. The air pressure on the planet is more than 90 atmospheres, which is 35 times more than the earth.
Carbon dioxide and, as a result, the greenhouse effect, a dense atmosphere, as well as proximity to the Sun, allow Venus to carry the title of "hottest planet". The temperature on its surface can reach 460°C.
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon.
Earth 
Earth is the only known planet in the universe today that has life on it. The Earth has the largest size, mass and density among the so-called inner planets of the solar system.
The age of the Earth is about 4.5 billion years, and life appeared on the planet about 3.5 billion years ago. The Moon is a natural satellite, the largest of the satellites of the terrestrial planets.
The atmosphere of the Earth is fundamentally different from the atmospheres of other planets due to the presence of life. Most of the atmosphere is nitrogen, but it also contains oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and water vapor. The ozone layer and the Earth's magnetic field, in turn, weaken the life-threatening effects of solar and cosmic radiation.
Due to the carbon dioxide contained in the atmosphere, the greenhouse effect also takes place on Earth. It does not appear as strongly as on Venus, but without it, the air temperature would be approximately 40 ° C lower. Without the atmosphere, temperature fluctuations would be very significant: according to scientists, from -100 ° C at night to + 160 ° C during the day.
About 71% of the Earth's surface is occupied by the oceans, the remaining 29% are continents and islands.
Mars
Mars is the seventh largest planet in the solar system. The "Red Planet", as it is also called due to the presence of a large amount of iron oxide in the soil. Mars has two moons: Deimos and Phobos.
The atmosphere of Mars is highly rarefied, and the distance to the Sun is almost one and a half times greater than that of the Earth. Therefore, the average annual temperature on the planet is -60 ° C, and temperature drops in some places reach 40 degrees during the day.
Distinctive features of the surface of Mars are impact craters and volcanoes, valleys and deserts, ice polar caps like those on Earth. The highest mountain in the solar system is located on Mars: the extinct volcano Olympus, whose height is 27 km! As well as the largest canyon: the Valley of the Mariner, the depth of which reaches 11 km, and the length is 4500 km.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is 318 times heavier than the Earth, and almost 2.5 times more massive than all the planets in our system combined. In its composition, Jupiter resembles the Sun - it consists mainly of helium and hydrogen - and radiates a huge amount of heat, equal to 4 * 1017 watts. However, in order to become a star like the Sun, Jupiter must be another 70-80 times heavier.
Jupiter has as many as 63 satellites, of which it makes sense to list only the largest ones - Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system, larger than even Mercury.
Due to certain processes in the inner atmosphere of Jupiter, many vortex structures appear in its outer atmosphere, for example, stripes of clouds of brown-red hues, as well as the Great Red Spot, a giant storm known since the 17th century.
Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system. The hallmark of Saturn is, of course, its ring system, which consists mainly of ice particles of various sizes (from tenths of a millimeter to several meters), as well as rocks and dust.
Saturn has 62 moons, the largest of which are Titan and Enceladus.
In its composition, Saturn resembles Jupiter, but in density it is inferior even to ordinary water.
The outer atmosphere of the planet looks calm and homogeneous, which is explained by a very dense layer of fog. However, the wind speed in some places can reach 1800 km/h.
Uranus
Uranus is the first planet to be discovered with a telescope, and also the only planet in the solar system that wraps around the sun, "lying on its side."
Uranus has 27 moons named after Shakespearean heroes. The largest of them are Oberon, Titania and Umbriel.
The composition of the planet differs from the gas giants in the presence of a large number of high-temperature modifications of ice. Therefore, along with Neptune, scientists have identified Uranus in the category of "ice giants". And if Venus has the title of "hottest planet" in the solar system, then Uranus is the coldest planet with a minimum temperature of about -224 ° C.
Neptune
Neptune is the most distant planet from the center of the solar system. The history of its discovery is interesting: before observing the planet through a telescope, scientists calculated its position in the sky using mathematical calculations. This happened after the discovery of inexplicable changes in the movement of Uranus in its own orbit.
To date, 13 satellites of Neptune are known to science. The largest of them - Triton - is the only satellite that moves in the opposite direction to the rotation of the planet. The fastest winds in the solar system also blow against the rotation of the planet: their speed reaches 2200 km/h.
The composition of Neptune is very similar to Uranus, therefore it is the second "ice giant". However, like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an internal source of heat and radiates 2.5 times more energy than it receives from the Sun.
The planet's blue color comes from traces of methane in the outer atmosphere.
Conclusion
Pluto, unfortunately, did not have time to get into our parade of planets in the solar system. But it is absolutely not worth worrying about this, because all the planets remain in their places, despite changes in scientific views and concepts.
So, we answered the question of how many planets are there in the solar system. There are only 8 .
The solar system consists of eight planets and more than 63 of their satellites, which are being discovered more and more often, as well as several dozen comets and a large number of asteroids. All cosmic bodies move along their clear directed trajectories around the Sun, which is 1000 times heavier than all the bodies in the solar system combined.
How many planets revolve around the sun
How the planets of the solar system originated: approximately 5-6 billion years ago, one of the gas and dust clouds of our large Galaxy (the Milky Way), which has the shape of a disk, began to shrink towards the center, gradually forming the current Sun. Further, according to one of the theories, under the influence of powerful forces of attraction, a large number of dust and gas particles rotating around the Sun began to stick together into balls - forming future planets. According to another theory, the gas and dust cloud immediately broke up into separate clusters of particles, which, compressed and compacted, formed the current planets. Now 8 planets revolve around the sun constantly.
The center of the solar system is the Sun, the star around which the planets revolve in orbits. They do not emit heat and do not glow, but only reflect the light of the sun. There are currently 8 officially recognized planets in the solar system. Briefly, in order of distance from the sun, we list them all. And now some definitions.
Planet satellites. The solar system also includes the Moon and the natural satellites of other planets, which all of them have, except for Mercury and Venus. More than 60 satellites are known. Most satellites of the outer planets were discovered when they received photographs taken by robotic spacecraft. Jupiter's smallest moon, Leda, is only 10 km across.
The Sun is a star without which life on Earth could not exist. It gives us energy and warmth. According to the classification of stars, the Sun is a yellow dwarf. The age is about 5 billion years. It has a diameter at the equator equal to 1,392,000 km, 109 times larger than the earth. The rotation period at the equator is 25.4 days and 34 days at the poles. The mass of the Sun is 2x10 to the 27th power of tons, approximately 332950 times the mass of the Earth. The temperature inside the core is about 15 million degrees Celsius. The surface temperature is about 5500 degrees Celsius.
According to the chemical composition, the Sun consists of 75% hydrogen, and of the other 25% of the elements, most of all helium. Now, in order, let's figure out how many planets revolve around the sun, in the solar system and the characteristics of the planets.
Solar system planets in order from the sun
in pictures
Mercury is the 1st planet in the solar system
Mercury. The four inner planets (nearest to the Sun) - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars - have a solid surface. They are smaller than four giant planets. Mercury moves faster than other planets, being burned by the sun's rays during the day and freezing at night.
Characteristics of the planet Mercury:
Period of revolution around the Sun: 87.97 days.
Diameter at the equator: 4878 km.
Rotation period (turn around the axis): 58 days.
Surface temperature: 350 during the day and -170 at night.
Atmosphere: very rarefied, helium.
How many satellites: 0.
The main satellites of the planet: 0.
Venus is the 2nd planet in the solar system
Venus is more similar to Earth in size and brightness. Observation of it is difficult because of the clouds enveloping it. The surface is a hot, rocky desert.
Characteristics of the planet Venus:
Period of revolution around the Sun: 224.7 days.
Diameter at the equator: 12104 km.
Rotation period (turn around the axis): 243 days.
Surface temperature: 480 degrees (average).
Atmosphere: dense, mostly carbon dioxide.
How many satellites: 0.
The main satellites of the planet: 0.
Earth is the 3rd planet in the solar system
Apparently, the Earth was formed from a gas and dust cloud, like other planets in the solar system. Particles of gas and dust, colliding, gradually "raised" the planet. The temperature on the surface reached 5000 degrees Celsius. Then the Earth cooled down and became covered with a hard stone crust. But the temperature in the bowels is still quite high - 4500 degrees. Rocks in the bowels are molten and pour out to the surface during volcanic eruptions. Only on earth there is water. That's why life exists here. It is located relatively close to the Sun to receive the necessary heat and light, but far enough away so as not to burn out.
Characteristics of the planet Earth:
Period of revolution around the Sun: 365.3 days.
Diameter at the equator: 12756 km.
The period of rotation of the planet (rotation around the axis): 23 hours 56 minutes.
Surface temperature: 22 degrees (average).
Atmosphere: mostly nitrogen and oxygen.
Number of satellites: 1.
The main satellites of the planet: the Moon.
Mars is the 4th planet in the solar system
Due to the similarity with the Earth, it was believed that life exists here. But the spacecraft that landed on the surface of Mars found no signs of life. This is the fourth planet in order.
Characteristics of the planet Mars:
Period of revolution around the Sun: 687 days.
Diameter of the planet at the equator: 6794 km.
Rotation period (rotation around the axis): 24 hours 37 minutes.
Surface temperature: -23 degrees (average).
Atmosphere of the planet: rarefied, mostly carbon dioxide.
How many satellites: 2.
Main moons in order: Phobos, Deimos.
Jupiter is the 5th planet in the solar system
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are made up of hydrogen and other gases. Jupiter is more than 10 times larger than Earth in diameter, 300 times in mass and 1300 times in volume. It is more than twice as massive as all the planets in the solar system combined. How much planet Jupiter does it take to become a star? It is necessary to increase its mass by 75 times!
Characteristics of the planet Jupiter:
The period of revolution around the Sun: 11 years 314 days.
Diameter of the planet at the equator: 143884 km.
Rotation period (turn around the axis): 9 hours 55 minutes.
Planet surface temperature: -150 degrees (average).
Number of satellites: 16 (+ rings).
The main satellites of the planets in order: Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto.
Saturn is the 6th planet in the solar system
This is the number 2 largest of the planets in the solar system. Saturn draws attention to itself due to the ring system formed from ice, rocks and dust that orbit the planet. There are three main rings with an outer diameter of 270,000 km, but their thickness is about 30 meters.
Characteristics of the planet Saturn:
The period of revolution around the Sun: 29 years 168 days.
Diameter of the planet at the equator: 120536 km.
Rotation period (turn around the axis): 10 hours 14 minutes.
Surface temperature: -180 degrees (average).
Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium.
Number of satellites: 18 (+ rings).
Main satellites: Titan.
Uranus is the 7th planet in the solar system
Unique planet in the solar system. Its peculiarity is that it revolves around the Sun not like everyone else, but "lying on its side." Uranus also has rings, although they are harder to see. In 1986, Voyager 2 flew 64,000 km and had six hours of photography, which it successfully completed.
Characteristics of the planet Uranus:
Orbital period: 84 years 4 days.
Diameter at the equator: 51118 km.
The period of rotation of the planet (rotation around the axis): 17 hours 14 minutes.
Surface temperature: -214 degrees (average).
Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium.
How many satellites: 15 (+ rings).
Main satellites: Titania, Oberon.
Neptune is the 8th planet in the solar system
At the moment, Neptune is considered the last planet in the solar system. Its discovery took place by the method of mathematical calculations, and then they saw it through a telescope. In 1989, Voyager 2 flew by. He took amazing photographs of the blue surface of Neptune and its largest moon, Triton.
Characteristics of the planet Neptune:
The period of revolution around the Sun: 164 years 292 days.
Diameter at the equator: 50538 km.
Rotation period (turn around the axis): 16 hours 7 minutes.
Surface temperature: -220 degrees (average).
Atmosphere: mostly hydrogen and helium.
Number of satellites: 8.
Main moons: Triton.
How many planets in the solar system: 8 or 9?
Previously, for many years, astronomers recognized the presence of 9 planets, that is, Pluto was also considered a planet, like the others already known to everyone. But in the 21st century, scientists were able to prove that it is not a planet at all, which means that there are 8 planets in the solar system.
Now, if you are asked how many planets are in the solar system, answer boldly - 8 planets in our system. It has been officially recognized since 2006. When lining up the planets of the solar system in order from the sun, use the finished picture. What do you think, maybe Pluto should not have been removed from the list of planets and these are scientific prejudices?
How many planets in the solar system: video, watch for free
Planets of the solar system
According to the official position of the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the organization that assigns names to astronomical objects, there are only 8 planets.
Pluto was removed from the category of planets in 2006. because in the Kuiper belt are objects that are larger / or equal in size to Pluto. Therefore, even if it is taken as a full-fledged celestial body, then it is necessary to add Eris to this category, which has almost the same size with Pluto.
As defined by MAC, there are 8 known planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
All planets are divided into two categories depending on their physical characteristics: terrestrial and gas giants.
Schematic representation of the location of the planets
terrestrial planets
Mercury
The smallest planet in the solar system has a radius of only 2440 km. The period of revolution around the Sun, for ease of understanding, equated to the earth's year, is 88 days, while Mercury has time to complete a revolution around its own axis only one and a half times. Thus, its day lasts approximately 59 Earth days. For a long time it was believed that this planet was always turned to the Sun by the same side, since the periods of its visibility from the Earth were repeated with a frequency approximately equal to four Mercury days. This misconception was dispelled with the advent of the possibility of using radar research and conducting continuous observations using space stations. The orbit of Mercury is one of the most unstable; not only the speed of movement and its distance from the Sun change, but also the position itself. Anyone interested can observe this effect.
Mercury in color, as seen by the MESSENGER spacecraft
Mercury's proximity to the Sun has caused it to experience the largest temperature fluctuations of any of the planets in our system. The average daytime temperature is about 350 degrees Celsius, and the nighttime temperature is -170 °C. Sodium, oxygen, helium, potassium, hydrogen and argon have been identified in the atmosphere. There is a theory that it was previously a satellite of Venus, but so far this remains unproven. It has no satellites of its own.
Venus
The second planet from the Sun, the atmosphere of which is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. It is often called the Morning Star and the Evening Star, because it is the first of the stars to become visible after sunset, just as before dawn it continues to be visible even when all other stars have disappeared from view. The percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 96%, there is relatively little nitrogen in it - almost 4%, and water vapor and oxygen are present in very small amounts.
Venus in the UV spectrum
Such an atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect, the temperature on the surface because of this is even higher than that of Mercury and reaches 475 ° C. Considered the slowest, the Venusian day lasts 243 Earth days, which is almost equal to a year on Venus - 225 Earth days. Many call her the sister of the Earth because of the mass and radius, the values of which are very close to the earth's indicators. The radius of Venus is 6052 km (0.85% of the earth). There are no satellites, like Mercury.
The third planet from the Sun and the only one in our system where there is liquid water on the surface, without which life on the planet could not develop. At least life as we know it. The radius of the Earth is 6371 km and, unlike the rest of the celestial bodies in our system, more than 70% of its surface is covered with water. The rest of the space is occupied by the continents. Another feature of the Earth is the tectonic plates hidden under the planet's mantle. At the same time, they are able to move, albeit at a very low speed, which over time causes a change in the landscape. The speed of the planet moving along it is 29-30 km / s.
Our planet from space
One rotation around its axis takes almost 24 hours, and a complete orbit lasts 365 days, which is much longer in comparison with the nearest neighboring planets. The Earth day and year are also taken as a standard, but this is done only for the convenience of perceiving time intervals on other planets. The Earth has one natural satellite, the Moon.
Mars
The fourth planet from the Sun, known for its rarefied atmosphere. Since 1960, Mars has been actively explored by scientists from several countries, including the USSR and the USA. Not all research programs have been successful, but water found in some areas suggests that primitive life exists on Mars, or existed in the past.
The brightness of this planet allows you to see it from Earth without any instruments. Moreover, once every 15-17 years, during the Opposition, it becomes the brightest object in the sky, eclipsing even Jupiter and Venus.
The radius is almost half that of the earth and is 3390 km, but the year is much longer - 687 days. He has 2 satellites - Phobos and Deimos .
Visual model of the solar system
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The sun
The sun is a star, which is a hot ball of hot gases at the center of our solar system. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of Neptune and Pluto. Without the Sun and its intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. There are billions of stars, like our Sun, scattered throughout the Milky Way galaxy.
Mercury
Sun-scorched Mercury is only slightly larger than Earth's moon. Like the Moon, Mercury is practically devoid of an atmosphere and cannot smooth out the traces of impact from the fall of meteorites, therefore, like the Moon, it is covered with craters. The day side of Mercury is very hot on the Sun, and on the night side the temperature drops hundreds of degrees below zero. In the craters of Mercury, which are located at the poles, there is ice. Mercury makes one revolution around the Sun in 88 days.
Venus
Venus is a world of monstrous heat (even more than on Mercury) and volcanic activity. Similar in structure and size to Earth, Venus is covered in a thick and toxic atmosphere that creates a strong greenhouse effect. This scorched world is hot enough to melt lead. Radar images through the mighty atmosphere revealed volcanoes and deformed mountains. Venus rotates in the opposite direction from the rotation of most planets.
Earth is an ocean planet. Our home, with its abundance of water and life, makes it unique in our solar system. Other planets, including several moons, also have ice deposits, atmospheres, seasons, and even weather, but only on Earth did all these components come together in such a way that life became possible.
Mars
Although details of the surface of Mars are difficult to see from Earth, telescope observations show that Mars has seasons and white spots at the poles. For decades, people have assumed that the bright and dark areas on Mars are patches of vegetation and that Mars might be a suitable place for life, and that water exists in the polar caps. When the Mariner 4 spacecraft flew by Mars in 1965, many of the scientists were shocked to see pictures of the bleak, cratered planet. Mars turned out to be a dead planet. More recent missions, however, have shown that Mars holds many mysteries that have yet to be solved.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, has four large moons and many small moons. Jupiter forms a kind of miniature solar system. To turn into a full-fledged star, Jupiter had to become 80 times more massive.
Saturn
Saturn is the most distant of the five planets that were known before the invention of the telescope. Like Jupiter, Saturn is made up mostly of hydrogen and helium. Its volume is 755 times that of the Earth. Winds in its atmosphere reach speeds of 500 meters per second. These fast winds, combined with heat rising from the planet's interior, cause the yellow and golden streaks we see in the atmosphere.
Uranus
The first planet found with a telescope, Uranus was discovered in 1781 by astronomer William Herschel. The seventh planet is so far from the Sun that one revolution around the Sun takes 84 years.
Neptune
Nearly 4.5 billion kilometers from the Sun, distant Neptune rotates. It takes 165 years to complete one revolution around the Sun. It is invisible to the naked eye due to its vast distance from Earth. Interestingly, its unusual elliptical orbit intersects with the orbit of the dwarf planet Pluto, which is why Pluto is inside Neptune's orbit for about 20 out of 248 years during which it makes one revolution around the Sun.
Pluto
Tiny, cold and incredibly distant, Pluto was discovered in 1930 and has long been considered the ninth planet. But after the discovery of Pluto-like worlds even further away, Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet in 2006.
The planets are giants
There are four gas giants located beyond the orbit of Mars: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. They are in the outer solar system. They differ in their massiveness and gas composition.
Planets of the solar system, not to scale
Jupiter
The fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in our system. Its radius is 69912 km, it is 19 times larger than the Earth and only 10 times smaller than the Sun. A year on Jupiter is not the longest in the solar system, lasting 4333 Earth days (incomplete 12 years). His own day has a duration of about 10 Earth hours. The exact composition of the planet's surface has not yet been determined, but it is known that krypton, argon and xenon are present on Jupiter in much larger quantities than on the Sun.
There is an opinion that one of the four gas giants is actually a failed star. This theory is also supported by the largest number of satellites, of which Jupiter has many - as many as 67. To imagine their behavior in the orbit of the planet, a fairly accurate and clear model of the solar system is needed. The largest of them are Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. At the same time, Ganymede is the largest satellite of the planets in the entire solar system, its radius is 2634 km, which is 8% larger than the size of Mercury, the smallest planet in our system. Io has the distinction of being one of only three moons with an atmosphere.
Saturn
The second largest planet and the sixth largest in the solar system. In comparison with other planets, the composition of chemical elements is most similar to the Sun. The surface radius is 57,350 km, the year is 10,759 days (almost 30 Earth years). A day here lasts a little longer than on Jupiter - 10.5 Earth hours. In terms of the number of satellites, it is not far behind its neighbor - 62 versus 67. The largest satellite of Saturn is Titan, just like Io, which is distinguished by the presence of an atmosphere. Slightly smaller than it, but no less famous for this - Enceladus, Rhea, Dione, Tethys, Iapetus and Mimas. It is these satellites that are the objects for the most frequent observation, and therefore we can say that they are the most studied in comparison with the rest.
For a long time, the rings on Saturn were considered a unique phenomenon, inherent only to him. Only recently it was found that all gas giants have rings, but the rest are not so clearly visible. Their origin has not yet been established, although there are several hypotheses about how they appeared. In addition, it was recently discovered that Rhea, one of the satellites of the sixth planet, also has some kind of rings.
The number of galaxies in the universe is largely unknown to humans, with astronomers speculating that there could be an infinite number of them. In our galaxy, the Milky Way, scientists estimate that there are about 100 billion planets, most of which are in the orbit of stars. In the recent past, astronomers have discovered hundreds of planets in our galaxy, some of which exhibit characteristics of our Earth, suggesting that they are capable of supporting life. Our solar system consists of the Sun, eight planets and their moons (satellites), as well as various small cosmic bodies. The solar system included nine planets for a long time, until Pluto was stripped of this rank in 2006, as it did not meet the necessary criteria. Pluto has been found to be part of a group of six space objects that orbit the Kuiper belt and is not the largest of them.
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Mercury
Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun; it is also the smallest of all eight planets. Within 88 days, Mercury completes a full revolution around the Sun. It is a rocky planet with an equatorial radius of 2439.7±1.0 km and a density of 5427 g/cm³, making it the second densest planet in the solar system. Mercury has no atmosphere and temperatures range from 448º C during the day to -170º C during the night. Its orbit is oval and is one of the planets that can be seen from Earth.
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It makes a complete revolution within 224.7 days, and the period of rotation around its axis is about 243 days (this is the slowest rotation of all the planets in the solar system). Venus is the hottest planet with a surface temperature of around 467º C as its atmosphere is dense and holds heat well. It is very bright in the morning and evening, making it highly visible in certain regions of the Earth. It is the closest planet to us, and also the first one visited by an earth probe (Mariner 2) in 1962. The dense hot atmosphere makes Venus inaccessible to humans.
Earth
Planet Earth is home to humans and is believed to be the only planet known to have life. It completes a revolution around the Sun in 365.256 days, covering a distance of about 940 million km. The Earth is located about 150 million km from the Sun and is the third planet in our system; according to scientists, its formation began 4.54 billion years ago. The total area of the Earth is more than 510 million km², 71% of which is covered by water, and the remaining 29% belongs to land. Earth's atmosphere protects life from outer space, harmful radiation and controls the weather. It is the densest planet in the solar system.
Mars
Mars, also known as the "red planet", is the fourth planet in our solar system and the second smallest. It has a solid surface like Earth, but its atmosphere is relatively thin. Mars is half the size of the Earth and is on average 228 million km from the Sun; it completes an orbit around the Sun in 779.96 days. It is clearly visible from Earth at night due to its bright surface. Liquid water is not found on the surface of the planet due to low atmospheric pressure. Researchers are studying the possibility of life on Mars. Scientists believe that the ice caps at the planet's poles are water, and the ice at the south pole could fill the planet's surface to a depth of 11 meters if melted.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth and largest planet in the solar system. Its mass is 2.5 times the total mass of other planets. Jupiter is a gaseous planet with no solid surface, although researchers believe its core is solid. It has a diameter of 142,984 km at the equator and is so large that it can contain all the planets in the solar system or 1,300 earths. It is predominantly composed of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter's atmosphere is dense, with winds averaging 550 kilometers per hour, twice the speed of a Category 5 hurricane on Earth. The planet has three rings of dust particles, but they are hard to see. It takes Jupiter 12 Earth years to make a complete revolution around the Sun.
Saturn
Saturn is the second largest planet after Jupiter and the sixth largest in the solar system. It is a gas giant, just like Jupiter, but with nine continuous rings. Saturn is considered the most beautiful planet in our system and is made up of hydrogen and helium. Its diameter is nine times that of the Earth, its volume is comparable to that of 763.5 Earths, and its surface is 83 Earths. However, Saturn's mass is only one-eighth that of our planet. Saturn has almost 150 moons, 53 of which have been named, 62 have been identified as having orbits, and the rest of the moons are in the planet's rings.
Uranus
Uranus is the seventh planet and the third largest in the solar system. Its surface is composed of frozen matter and therefore it is considered an ice giant. However, Uranus' atmosphere also contains hydrogen and helium, along with other "ices" such as methane, ammonia, and water. Although it is not the most distant planet from the Sun, it is one of the coldest with atmospheric temperatures reaching -224 C, being the only planet in the solar system that does not generate heat from its core. The average distance of Uranus from the Sun is about 2.8 billion km.
Neptune
Neptune is the eighth and farthest planet from the Sun. At first it was thought to be a fixed star by Galileo, who used mathematical predictions to find it rather than the usual telescope method. The average distance from Neptune to the Sun is 4.5 billion km, and a complete revolution around our star takes 164.8 years. Neptune completed its first orbit in 2011, since it was discovered in 1846. It has 14 known moons, the largest of which is Triton. The atmosphere is dominated by hydrogen and helium. It is the windiest planet in the solar system, with an average wind speed nine times that of Earth. NASA recently discovered that Neptune has rivers and lakes of liquid methane.
