Solar system consists of the Sun, eight planets (Pluto is not considered a planet now) and their satellites (moons). Solar system also consists of thousands of other smaller celestial bodies such as steroids, comets and meteors.
Sun is at the centre of the Solar system and all these bodies are revolving arround the sun. The gravitational pull of the sun keeps them revolving arround it. All the planets and celestial bodies revolve in elliptical orbit.
Amazing Facts about Solar System
- The planet nearest to Sun is Mercury and the farthest planet is Neptune (Not Pluto as it is not considered a planet)
- The size of Solar system has been estimated to be about 105 Astronomical Unit.( Astronomical Unit is the mean distance between Earth and Sun).
- Sun is the ultimate source of energy in the Solar System.
- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars are called Terrestrial Planets. They are also called as inner planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called gaseous planets. They are also called as outer planets.
- Solar system also consists of asteroid belt which comes between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
- There are five recognized Dwarf Planets in Solar System they are – Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Iris.
- Our Solar system is located 26,000 light years from the center of Milky way.
- Nearest Star to Solar System are – Proxima Centauri (4.37 Light Year) and Alpha Centauri (4.37 LY).
Pluto has lost the status of Planet and is now considered Dwarf Planet. Pluto was discovered in year 1930 and from since then nine planets were considered in our solar system. The International Astronomical Union took a decision in 2006 to remove the status of Pluto from a planet to dwarf planet. Thus the count of actual planets in Solar system reduces to be Eight only.
Facts about Solar System : The Sun
- Sun is at the centre of Solar system
- Sun’s diameter is 14 lakhs Km. Size of Sun is Thirteen Lakh times bigger than Earth.
- Sun Rays takes 8.2 minutes from Sun’s surface to reach Earth.
- Sun is the nearest star from Earth.
- On the Sun’s surface Hydrogen is converted to Helium by Nuclear Fusion Chain reaction releasing tremendous amount of Heat and Light.
- Surface temperature of Sun is 60000 C and the temperature of Core is 15,000,0000 C.
- Outer layer of Sun’s atmosphere is made up of thin layer of hot gases called corona
Facts about Solar System : The Planets
- Planets are the celestial bodies which continuously revolve around the sun.
- Planets don’t have their own light but they ate illuminated by the light of Sun.
- There are eight planets in solar system.
- Sequence of planets is order of their distance from sun is – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- Sequence of planets in descending order of their size – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury.
- Jupiter is the biggest and Mercury is the smallest planet in our Solar System
| Inner Planets | Outer Planets |
| They include Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars | They include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune |
| They are nearer to sun | They are far from sun |
| They are made up of dense metallic minerals | They are made of hot gases, mainly Hydrogen and Helium |
| They have mantle rich in Iron and Magenesium | No mantle, Gaseous core |
| They move faster and have shorter period of revolution | They move slower and have long period of revolution |
| They have few moons | They have large number of moons |
Facts about Solar System : Mercury
- Mercury is the closes planet to the Sun
- It is extremely hot planet and there is not water on it.
- This planet has no gases like Co2, N2, H2 and O2 which act as building blocks of life.
- Mercury has no protective blanket like Ozon of earth to protect it from radiations.
Facts about Solar System : Venus
- Venus is second planet from Sun and is also nearest planet from Earth.
- Venus is also the brightest planet among all.
- Venus is also called as “Morning Star” and “Evening Star” becauses it rises earliest in evening and remain visible late in morning sky.
- Venus is surrounded by thick cloud cover, hence it is also called as Veiled planet.
- Venus is similar to Earth in size and mass. Hence it is also called as Earth’s twin.
- Venus is the hottest planet of our Solar System(Even hotter than Mercury) due to its veil of clouds.
- There is no sufficient oxygen and no traces of water on it.
- Venus rotates from east to west unlike other planets which rotate from west to east on its axis. Only Uranus also rotates east to west.
Facts about Solar System : Earth
- Earth is largest of inner planets
- Earth is tilted 23.5 degrees from its vertical axis.
- Earth is called Blue planet (it appears blue from space) due to huge amount of water on it.
- Earth is the only known planet which sustains life on it.
- Earth has all elements like Carbon, Oxygen and Hydrogen which are building blocks of life.
- Earth has Goldilock zone. Gollilock zone is a habitable zone of solar system where all conditions are suitable for life to sustain.
- Earth has protective blanket of Ozone which absorbs harmful ultraviolet radiations of Sun.
- Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth.
- Moon takes the same amount of time to rotate on its axis and revolve around the earth. This period is 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes. This is the reason why only one face of moon is visible from earth.
- Size of Moon is one-fourth and gravitational pull is one sixth of Earth.
- Study of Moon is called Selenology. Moon is also called fossil planet.
Facts about Solar System : Mars
- Mars is also called as Red Planet.
- Mars has Iron rick red soil and pink sky.
- Phobes and Demos are two satellites of Mars.
Facts about Solar System : Jupiter
- Jupiter is the largest planet of Solar System
- Jupiter is also known as Winter planet as its temperature is very low (-148 Deg C).
- Gannymeda is a satellite of Jupiter which is the largest satellite of Solar system.
Facts about Solar System : Saturn
- Saturn is the second largest planet of Solar system.
- Saturn has bright concentric rings which are made up of ice and ice covered dust particles which revolve arround it.
- Titan is the largest satellite of Saturn.
Facts about Solar System : Uranus
- Uranus is about four times size of Earth. The planet appears greenish in color because of methane gas present in atmosphere.
- Uranus is seventh planet from Sun and it is third biggest planet of Solar system.
- Uranus is extremely cold having surface temperature -190 deg C.
- Uranus is surrounded by 13 rings.
- Uranus rotates from east to west on its axis like Venus which is opposite to other planets.
- The axis of Uranus has large inclination so that it appears to be lying down, hence it bears the name “A planet on its side”
Facts about Solar System : Neptune
- Neptune is the eighth planet of solar system.
- Temperature of surface of Neptune is very low.
- Neptune is very similar to Uranus.
- Neptune is also surrounded by methane gas rings of sub zero temperature.
Comparative Facts about Solar System Planets
| Planet | Rev. Time | Rot. Time | Dia (Km) | Mass Ratio | Moons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | 88 days | 58.6 days | 4878 | 0.055 | 0 |
| Venus | 224.7 days | 243 days | 12100 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Earth | 365.26 days | 23.9 hrs | 12760 | 1 | 1 |
| Mars | 678 days | 24.6 hrs | 6780 | 0.1 | 2 |
| Jupiter | 11.9 year | 9.9 hrs | 142800 | 318 | 63 |
| Saturn | 29.5 year | 10 hrs | 120000 | 95 | 21 |
| Uranus | 84 year | 16.2 hrs | 50800 | 15 | 15 |
| Neptune | 164.8 year | 18.5 hrs | 48600 | 17 | 8 |
** Mass Ratio is the mass of planet as compared to Earth. In other terms it means mass of planet divided by mass of Earth.
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