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The planets of the solar system in turn. Wonders of Space: interesting facts about the planets of the solar system. Planets - giants

The planets of the solar system are in order in the following sequence:
1 - Mercury. The smallest of the real planets in the solar system
2 - Venus. The description of hell was taken from her: terrible heat, sulfur evaporation and eruptions of many volcanoes.
3 - Earth. The third planet in order from the Sun, our home.
4 - Mars. The most distant of the planets of the terrestrial group of the solar system.
Then the Main Asteroid Belt is located, where the dwarf planet Ceres and the minor planets Vesta, Pallas, etc. are located.
Next in order are the four giant planets:
5 - Jupiter. The largest planet in the solar system.
6 - Saturn with its famous rings.
7 - Uranus. The coldest planet.
8 - Neptune. It is the furthest "real" planet in order from the Sun.
And here's what's interesting:
9 - Pluto. A dwarf planet that is usually listed after Neptune. But, Pluto's orbit is such that it is sometimes closer to the Sun than Neptune. For example, this was the case from 1979 to 1999.
No, Neptune and Pluto cannot collide :) - their orbits are such that they do not intersect.
The location of the planets of the solar system in order in the photo:

How many planets are in the solar system

How many planets are in the solar system? This is not so easy to answer. For a long time it was believed that there were nine planets in the solar system:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

But, on August 24, 2006, Pluto ceased to be considered a planet. This was caused by the discovery of the planet Eris and other small planets of the solar system, in connection with which it was necessary to clarify which celestial bodies can be considered planets.
Several signs of "real" planets were identified and it turned out that Pluto does not fully satisfy them.
Therefore, Pluto was transferred to the category of dwarf planets, which include, for example, Ceres - the former asteroid No. 1 in the Main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

As a result, when trying to answer the question of how many planets are in the solar system, the situation is even more confused. Because in addition to the "real" now there are also dwarf planets.
But there are also small planets, which were called large asteroids. For example Vesta, asteroid number 2 in the mentioned Main asteroid belt.
Recently, the same Eris, Make-Make, Haumea and several other small planets of the solar system, data on which is insufficient and it is not clear what to consider them - dwarf or small planets. Not to mention that some small asteroids are mentioned in the literature as minor planets! For example, the asteroid Icarus, which is only about 1 kilometer in size, is often referred to as a minor planet...
Which of these bodies should be taken into account when answering the question "how many planets are there in the solar system"???
In general, "we wanted the best, but it turned out as always."

It is curious that many astronomers and even ordinary people "defend" Pluto, continuing to consider it a planet, sometimes arrange small demonstrations and diligently promote this idea on the Web (mainly abroad).

Therefore, when answering the question "how many planets in the solar system" it's easiest to say "eight" briefly and not even try to discuss something ... otherwise it will immediately turn out that there is simply no exact answer :)

The giant planets are the largest planets in the solar system.

There are four giant planets in the solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Since these planets are located outside the main asteroid belt, they are called the "outer" planets of the solar system.
In size, two pairs clearly stand out among these giants.
The largest giant planet is Jupiter. Saturn is quite a bit inferior to him.
And Uranus and Neptune are sharply smaller than the first two planets and they are located farther from the Sun.
Look at the comparative sizes of the giant planets relative to the Sun:

The giant planets protect the inner planets of the solar system from asteroids.
Without these bodies in the solar system, our Earth would be hundreds of times more likely to be hit by asteroids and comets!
How do the giant planets protect us from the fall of intruders?

You can learn more about the largest planets in the solar system here:

terrestrial planets

The terrestrial planets are four planets in the solar system that are similar in size and composition: Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
Since one of them is the Earth, all these planets were assigned to the terrestrial group. Their sizes are very similar, and Venus and the Earth are generally almost the same. The temperatures are relatively high, which is explained by the proximity to the Sun. All four planets are formed by rocks, while the giant planets are gas and ice worlds.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet in the solar system.
It is generally accepted that Mercury is very hot. Yes, it is, the temperature on the sunny side can reach +427°С. But, there is almost no atmosphere on Mercury, so on the night side it can be up to -170 ° С. And at the poles, because of the low Sun, a layer of underground permafrost is generally assumed ...

Venus. For a long time, it was considered the "sister" of the Earth, until Soviet research stations landed on its surface. It turned out to be a real hell! Temperature +475°C, pressure of almost a hundred atmospheres and an atmosphere of toxic compounds of sulfur and chlorine. To colonize it - you have to try very hard ...

Mars. The famous red planet. It is the most distant of the terrestrial planets in the solar system.
Like Earth, Mars has moons: Phobos and Deimos
Basically it is a cold, rocky and dry world. Only at the equator at noon can it get warmer up to +20°C, the rest of the time - a fierce frost, up to -153°C at the poles.
The planet does not have a magnetosphere and cosmic radiation irradiates the surface mercilessly.
The atmosphere is very rarefied and not suitable for breathing, however, its density is enough to occasionally cause powerful dust storms on Mars.
Despite all the shortcomings. Mars is the most promising planet for colonization in the solar system.

Read more about the terrestrial planets in the article The largest planets in the solar system

The largest planet in the solar system

The largest planet in the solar system is Jupiter. This is the fifth planet from the Sun, its orbit is beyond the main asteroid belt. Look at the size comparison of Jupiter and Earth:
Jupiter is 11 times the diameter of Earth and 318 times its mass. Due to the large size of the planet, parts of its atmosphere rotate at different speeds, so Jupiter's belts are clearly visible in the image. Below, on the left, you can see Jupiter's famous Great Red Spot, a huge atmospheric vortex that has been observed for several centuries.

The smallest planet in the solar system

Which planet is the smallest planet in the solar system? This is not such a simple question...
Today it is generally accepted that the smallest planet in the solar system is Mercury, which we mentioned a little above. But, you already know that until August 24, 2006, Pluto was considered the smallest planet in the solar system.

More attentive readers may recall that Pluto is a dwarf planet. And there are five known. The smallest dwarf planet is Ceres, with a diameter of about 900 km.
But that's not all...

There are also so-called minor planets, the size of which starts at only 50 meters. Both the 1-kilometer Icarus and the 490-kilometer Pallas fall under this definition. It is clear that there are many of them, and it is difficult to choose the smallest one due to the complexity of observations and calculation of sizes. So, when answering the question "what is the name of the smallest planet in the solar system", it all depends on what exactly is meant by the word "planet".

 or tell your friends:

Our home in space is the solar system, a star system made up of eight planets and part of the Milky Way galaxy. In the center is a star called the Sun. The solar system is four and a half billion years old. We live on the third planet from the sun. Do you know about other planets in the solar system? Now we will tell you a little about them.

Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. Its radius is 2440 km. The period of revolution around the Sun is 88 Earth days. During this time, Mercury has time to complete a revolution around its own axis only one and a half times. A day on Mercury lasts approximately 59 Earth days. The orbit of Mercury is one of the most unstable: not only the speed of movement and its distance from the Sun change there, but also the position itself. There are no satellites.

Neptune is the eighth planet in the solar system. It is close enough to Uranus. The radius of the planet is 24547 km. A year on Neptune is equal to 60190 days, that is, somewhere around 164 Earth years. Has 14 satellites. It has an atmosphere in which the strongest wind is recorded - up to 260 m / s.
By the way, Neptune was discovered not with the help of observations, but through mathematical calculations.

Uranus is the seventh planet in the solar system. Radius - 25267 km. The coldest planet is a surface temperature of -224 degrees. A year on Uranus is equal to 30,685 Earth days, that is, approximately 84 years. Day - 17 hours. Has 27 satellites.

Saturn is the sixth planet in the solar system. The radius of the planet is 57350 km. It is the second largest after Jupiter. A year on Saturn is equal to 10759 days, which is almost 30 Earth years. A day on Saturn is almost equal to a day on Jupiter - 10.5 Earth hours. Most similar to the Sun in the composition of chemical elements.
Has 62 satellites.
The main feature of Saturn is its rings. Their origin has not yet been established.

Jupiter is the fifth planet from the sun. It is the largest planet in the solar system. The radius of Jupiter is 69912 km. This is already 19 times larger than the Earth. A year there lasts as much as 4333 Earth days, that is, almost incomplete 12 years. A day has a duration of about 10 Earth hours.
Jupiter has 67 moons. The largest of them are Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. At the same time, Ganymede is 8% larger than Mercury, the smallest planet in our system, and has an atmosphere.

Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system. Its radius is 3390 km, which is almost half the size of the Earth. A year on Mars is 687 Earth days. It has 2 satellites - Phobos and Deimos.
The atmosphere of the planet is rarefied. The water found on some parts of the surface suggests that some kind of primitive life on Mars was once before or even exists now.

Venus is the second planet in the solar system. It is similar in mass and radius to the Earth. There are no satellites.
The atmosphere of Venus is almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide. The percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 96%, nitrogen is approximately 4%. Water vapor and oxygen are also present, but in very small amounts. Due to the fact that such an atmosphere creates a greenhouse effect, the temperature on the surface of the planet reaches 475 ° C. A day on Venus is equal to 243 Earth days. A year on Venus is 255 days.

Pluto is a dwarf planet at the edges of the solar system, which is the dominant object in a distant system of 6 small cosmic bodies. The radius of the planet is 1195 km. The period of revolution of Pluto around the Sun is approximately 248 Earth years. A day on Pluto is 152 hours. The mass of the planet is approximately 0.0025 of the mass of the Earth.
It is noteworthy that Pluto was excluded from the category of planets in 2006 due to the fact that in the Kuiper belt there are objects that are larger or equal in size to Pluto, which is why, even if it is taken as a full-fledged planet, then in this case it is necessary add Eris to this category - it has almost the same size as Pluto.

Earth - planet solar system. Earth- one of the celestial bodies that revolve around the sun. Sun is a star, a flaming ball around which the planets revolve. Together with the Sun, their satellites, many small planets (asteroids), comets and meteor dust, they make up solar system . Our galaxy is Milky Way , its diameter is approximately 100 thousand light years (this is how long it will take for light to reach the last point of this space).

Earth- the third in a row eight planets , it has a diameter of about 13 thousand km. She is at a distance 150 million km from the Sun (third from the Sun). Earth, along with Venus, Mars and Mercury, enters inner (terrestrial) group planets. The Earth completes one revolution around the Sun in 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes, or for one year. The path of the Earth around the Sun (Earth's orbit) is close in shape to a circle.

Earth, like other planets, spherical . As a result of rotation around its axis, it is slightly flattened at the poles. Due to the inhomogeneous structure of the Earth's interior and the inhomogeneous distribution of masses, the shape of the Earth deviates from the regular shape of an ellipsoid of revolution. The true geometric figure of the Earth was called geoid(earthlike). geoid A figure whose surface is everywhere perpendicular to the direction of gravity. The figures of the spheroid and geoid do not match. Differences are observed within 50-150 m.

Earth rotation.

Simultaneously with the movement around the Sun, the Earth rotates around its axis, turning to the Sun with one hemisphere, then the other. Rotation period equals approximately 24 hours, or one day. earth axis is an imaginary line passing through the center of the earth. The axis crosses the Earth's surface at two points: North and South poles. At equal distances from the geographic poles passes equator- an imaginary line that divides the Earth into two equal hemispheres: Northern and Southern.

The imaginary axis around which the Earth revolves is inclined to the plane of the orbit along which the Earth revolves around the Sun. Because of this, at different times of the year, the Earth is turned towards the Sun with either one pole or the other. When the area around the North Pole faces the Sun, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere (in which we live) and winter in the Southern Hemisphere. When the area around the South Pole is facing the Sun, it is vice versa: in the Southern Hemisphere it is summer, and in the Northern Hemisphere it is winter.

Thus, due to the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, as well as due to the tilt of the earth's axis on our planet, seasons. In addition, different parts of the Earth receive different amounts of heat from the Sun, which determines the existence of thermal belts: hot tropical, temperate and cold polar.

The earth has an invisible magnetic field. The presence of this field causes the compass needle to always point north. Earth has only one natural satellite - moon(at a distance of 384,400 km from the Earth). The moon revolves around the earth. It reflects sunlight, so it seems to us that it glows.

From the attraction of the moon on Earth there are ebbs and flows. They are especially noticeable on the coast of the open ocean. The lunar attraction is so strong that the surface of the ocean curves towards our satellite. The moon moves around the earth, and after it runs across the ocean tidal wave. When it reaches the shore, there is a tide. After a while, the water moves away from the coast after the moon.

Table "Earth is a planet of the solar system."

solar system- this is a system of celestial bodies soldered by the forces of mutual attraction. It includes: the central star - the Sun, 8 large planets with their satellites, several thousand small planets, or asteroids, several hundred observed comets and countless meteoroids, dust, gas and small particles . It was formed through gravitational contraction gas and dust cloud approximately 4.57 billion years ago.

In addition to the Sun, the system includes the following eight major planets:

Sun


The Sun is the closest star to the Earth, all others are immeasurably farther from us. For example, the closest star to us is Proxima from the system a Centaurus is 2500 times farther than the Sun. For the Earth, the Sun is a powerful source of cosmic energy. It provides light and heat necessary for the flora and fauna, and forms the most important properties of the Earth's atmosphere.. In general, the Sun determines the ecology of the planet. Without it, there would be no air necessary for life: it would turn into a liquid nitrogen ocean around frozen waters and icy land. For us, earthlings, the most important feature of the Sun is that our planet arose around it and life appeared on it.

Merkur uy

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.

The ancient Romans considered Mercury the patron of trade, travelers and thieves, as well as the messenger of the gods. It is not surprising that a small planet, rapidly moving across the sky following the Sun, was named after him. Mercury has been known since ancient times, but the ancient astronomers did not immediately realize that they see the same star in the morning and in the evening. Mercury is closer to the Sun than the Earth: the average distance from the Sun is 0.387 AU, and the distance to the Earth varies from 82 to 217 million km. The inclination of the orbit to the ecliptic i = 7° is one of the largest in the solar system. The axis of Mercury is almost perpendicular to the plane of its orbit, and the orbit itself is very elongated (eccentricity e = 0.206). The average velocity of Mercury in orbit is 47.9 km/s. Due to the tidal influence of the Sun, Mercury fell into a resonant trap. The period of its revolution around the Sun (87.95 Earth days) measured in 1965 refers to the period of rotation around the axis (58.65 Earth days) as 3/2. Mercury completes three complete rotations around its axis in 176 days. During the same period, the planet makes two revolutions around the Sun. Thus, Mercury occupies the same position in orbit relative to the Sun, and the orientation of the planet remains the same. Mercury has no satellites. If they were, then in the process of the formation of the planet they fell on protomercury. The mass of Mercury is almost 20 times less than the mass of the Earth (0.055M or 3.3 10 23 kg), and the density is almost the same as that of the Earth (5.43 g/cm3). The radius of the planet is 0.38R (2440 km). Mercury is smaller than some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.


Venus

The second planet from the Sun, has an almost circular orbit. It passes closer to Earth than any other planet.

But the dense, cloudy atmosphere does not allow you to directly see its surface. Atmosphere: CO 2 (97%), N2 (approx. 3%), H 2 O (0.05%), impurities CO, SO 2, HCl, HF. Due to the greenhouse effect, the surface temperature warms up to hundreds of degrees. The atmosphere, which is a dense blanket of carbon dioxide, traps the heat that comes from the sun. This leads to the fact that the temperature of the atmosphere is much higher than in the oven. Radar images show a very wide variety of craters, volcanoes and mountains. There are several very large volcanoes, up to 3 km high. and hundreds of kilometers wide. The outpouring of lava on Venus takes much longer than on Earth. The surface pressure is about 107 Pa. Surface rocks of Venus are similar in composition to terrestrial sedimentary rocks.
Finding Venus in the sky is easier than any other planet. Its dense clouds reflect sunlight well, making the planet bright in our sky. Every seven months for several weeks, Venus is the brightest object in the western sky in the evening. Three and a half months later, it rises three hours before the Sun, becoming the brilliant "morning star" of the eastern sky. Venus can be observed an hour after sunset or an hour before sunrise. Venus has no satellites.

Earth

3rd from Sol no planet. The speed of the Earth's circulation in an elliptical orbit around the Sun is - 29.765 km / s. The inclination of the earth's axis to the plane of the ecliptic is 66 o 33 "22"". The Earth has a natural satellite - the Moon. The Earth has a magneticmagnetic and electric fields. The Earth was formed 4.7 billion years ago from gas scattered in the protosolar system- dust substances. The composition of the Earth is dominated by: iron (34.6%), oxygen (29.5%), silicon (15.2%), magnesium (12.7%). The pressure in the center of the planet is 3.6 * 10 11 Pa, the density is about 12,500 kg / m 3, the temperature is 5000-6000 o C. Most of thethe surface is occupied by the World Ocean (361.1 million km 2; 70.8%); land is 149.1 million km 2 and forms six motherscoves and islands. It rises above the world ocean level by an average of 875 meters (the highest height is 8848 meters - the city of Chomolungma). Mountains occupy 30% of the land, deserts cover about 20% of the land surface, savannas and light forests - about 20%, forests - about 30%, glaciers - 10%. The average depth of the ocean is about 3800 meters, the greatest is 11022 meters (the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean), the volume of water is 1370 million km 3, the average salinity is 35 g / l. The atmosphere of the Earth, the total mass of which is 5.15 * 10 15 tons, consists of air - a mixture of mainly nitrogen (78.1%) and oxygen (21%), the rest is water vapor, carbon dioxide, noble and other gases. About 3-3.5 billion years ago, as a result of the natural evolution of matter, life arose on Earth, and the development of the biosphere began.

Mars

The fourth planet from the Sun, similar to Earth, but smaller and colder. Mars has deep canyonsgiant volcanoes and vast deserts. Around the Red Planet, as Mars is also called, two small moons fly: Phobos and Deimos. Mars is the planet next to the Earth, if you count from the Sun, and the only space world, apart from the Moon, that can already be reached with modern rockets. For astronauts, this four-year journey could be the next frontier in space exploration. Near the equator of Mars, in the region called Tharsis, there are volcanoes of colossal proportions. Tarsis is the name that astronomers gave to a hill that has 400 km. wide and about 10 km. in height. There are four volcanoes on this plateau, each of which is simply a giant in comparison with any terrestrial volcano. The most grandiose volcano of Tarsis, Mount Olympus, rises above the surrounding area for 27 km. About two-thirds of the surface of Mars is mountainous terrain with a large number of impact craters and surrounded by debris of hard rocks. Near the volcanoes of Tharsis snakes a vast system of canyons about a quarter of the equator long. The Mariner Valley is 600 km wide, and its depth is such that Mount Everest would sink entirely to its bottom. Sheer cliffs rise thousands of meters, from the bottom of the valley to the plateau above. In ancient times, there was a lot of water on Mars, large rivers flowed on the surface of this planet. Ice caps lie at the South and North Poles of Mars. But this ice does not consist of water, but of frozen atmospheric carbon dioxide (it freezes at a temperature of -100 o C). Scientists believe that surface water is stored in the form of ice blocks buried in the ground, especially in the polar regions. Atmospheric composition: CO 2 (95%), N 2 (2.5%), Ar (1.5 - 2%), CO (0.06%), H 2 O (up to 0.1%); pressure near the surface is 5-7 hPa. In total, about 30 interplanetary space stations were sent to Mars.

Jupiter


The fifth planet from the Sun, the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is not a solid planet. Unlike the four solid planets closest to the Sun, Jupiter is a gas ball. The composition of the atmosphere: H 2 (85%), CH 4 , NH 3 , He (14%). Jupiter's gas composition is very similar to that of the sun. Jupiter is a powerful source of thermal radio emission. Jupiter has 16 satellites (Adrastea, Metis, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Lysitea, Elara, Ananke, Karma, Pasiphe, Sinope, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Leda, Himalia), as well as a 20,000 km wide ring, almost closely adjacent to planet. Jupiter's rotation speed is so great that the planet bulges along the equator. In addition, such a rapid rotation causes very strong winds in the upper atmosphere, where the clouds are stretched out in long colorful ribbons. There are a very large number of vortex spots in the clouds of Jupiter. The largest of them, the so-called Great Red Spot, is larger than the Earth. The Great Red Spot is a huge storm in Jupiter's atmosphere that has been observed for 300 years. Inside the planet, under enormous pressure, hydrogen from a gas turns into a liquid, and then from a liquid into a solid. At a depth of 100 km. there is a vast ocean of liquid hydrogen. Below 17000 km. hydrogen is compressed so strongly that its atoms are destroyed. And then it starts behaving like metal; in this state, it easily conducts electricity. An electric current flowing in metallic hydrogen creates a strong magnetic field around Jupiter.

Saturn

The sixth planet from the Sun, has an amazing system of rings. Due to the rapid rotation around its axis, Saturn seems to be flattened at the poles. The wind speed at the equator reaches 1800 km/h. The rings of Saturn are 400,000 km wide, but they are only a few tens of meters thick. The inner parts of the rings revolve around Saturn faster than the outer ones. The rings are mostly made up of billions of small particles, each of which orbits Saturn as a separate microscopic satellite. Probably, these "microsatellites" consist of water ice or rocks covered with ice. Their size ranges from a few centimeters to tens of meters. There are also larger objects in the rings - stone blocks and fragments up to hundreds of meters in diameter. The gaps between the rings arise under the influence of the gravitational forces of seventeen moons (Hyperion, Mimas, Tethys, Titan, Enceladus, etc.), which cause the rings to split. The composition of the atmosphere includes: CH 4 , H 2 , He, NH 3 .

Uranus

7th from Sun planet. It was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel, and named after Greek about the sky god Uranus. The orientation of Uranus in space differs from the rest of the planets of the solar system - its axis of rotation lies, as it were, "on its side" relative to the plane of revolution of this planet around the Sun. The axis of rotation is inclined at an angle of 98 o . As a result, the planet is turned to the Sun alternately with the north pole, then the south, then the equator, then the middle latitudes. Uranus has more than 27 satellites (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Pack, etc.) and a system of rings. At the center of Uranus is a core composed of stone and iron. The composition of the atmosphere includes: H 2 , He, CH 4 (14%).

Neptune

E its orbit intersects with Pluto's in some places. The equatorial diameter is the same as that of Uranus, although ra Neptune is located 1627 million km farther from Uranus (Uranus is located 2869 million km from the Sun). Based on these data, we can conclude that this planet could not be noticed in the 17th century. One of the striking achievements of science, one of the evidence of the unlimited cognizability of nature was the discovery of the planet Neptune by calculations - "on the tip of a pen." Uranus - the planet following Saturn, which for many centuries was considered the most distant planet, was discovered by V. Herschel at the end of the 18th century. Uranus is hardly visible to the naked eye. By the 40s of the XIX century. accurate observations have shown that Uranus deviates just barely from the path it should follow, given the perturbations from all the known planets. Thus the theory of motion of celestial bodies, so rigorous and precise, was put to the test. Le Verrier (in France) and Adams (in England) suggested that if perturbations from the known planets do not explain the deviation in the motion of Uranus, it means that the attraction of an as yet unknown body acts on it. They almost simultaneously calculated where behind Uranus there should be an unknown body that produces these deviations by its attraction. They calculated the orbit of the unknown planet, its mass and indicated the place in the sky where the unknown planet should have been at the given time. This planet was found in a telescope at the place indicated by them in 1846. It was called Neptune. Neptune is not visible to the naked eye. On this planet, winds blow at speeds up to 2400 km / h, directed against the rotation of the planet. These are the strongest winds in the solar system.
Atmospheric composition: H 2 , He, CH 4 . It has 6 satellites (one of them is Triton).
Neptune is the god of the seas in Roman mythology.

The solar system is a system of planets, which includes its center - the Sun, as well as other objects of the Cosmos. They revolve around the sun. More recently, 9 objects of the Cosmos that revolve around the Sun were called “planet”. Now scientists have established that beyond the boundaries of the solar system there are planets that revolve around stars.

In 2006, the Union of Astronomers declared that the planets of the solar system are spherical cosmic objects revolving around the sun. On the scale of the solar system, the Earth appears to be extremely small. In addition to the Earth, eight planets revolve around the Sun in their individual orbits. All of them are larger than the Earth. They rotate in the plane of the ecliptic.

Planets in the solar system: types

Location of the terrestrial group in relation to the Sun

The first planet is Mercury, followed by Venus; next comes our Earth and finally Mars.
The terrestrial planets do not have many satellites or moons. Of these four planets, only Earth and Mars have moons.

The planets that belong to the terrestrial group are characterized by a high density, they consist of metal or stone. Basically, they are small and rotate around their own axis. Their rotation speed is also low.

gas giants

These are the four space objects that are at the greatest distance from the Sun: Jupiter is at number 5, followed by Saturn, then Uranus and Neptune.

Jupiter and Saturn are impressive planets, made up of compounds of hydrogen and helium. The density of gas planets is low. They rotate at high speed, have satellites and are surrounded by asteroid rings.
“Ice giants”, which include Uranus and Neptune, are smaller, their atmospheres contain methane, carbon monoxide.

Gas giants have a strong gravitational field, so they can attract many space objects, unlike the terrestrial group.

According to scientists, asteroid rings are the remains of moons altered by the gravitational field of the planets.


dwarf planet

Dwarfs are space objects, the size of which does not reach the planet, but exceeds the dimensions of the asteroid. There are many such objects in the solar system. They are concentrated in the Kuiper belt region. The satellites of the gas giants are dwarf planets that have left their orbit.


Planets of the solar system: the process of emergence

According to the hypothesis of cosmic nebulae, stars are born in clouds of dust and gas, in nebulae.
Due to the force of attraction, substances are combined. Under the influence of the concentrated force of gravity, the center of the nebula is compressed and stars are formed. Dust and gases are transformed into rings. The rings rotate under the influence of gravity, and planetasimals form in whirlpools, which increase and attract cosmetic objects to themselves.

Under the influence of the force of gravity, the planetazimals are compressed and acquire a spherical shape. Spheres can combine and gradually turn into protoplanets.



There are eight planets within the solar system. They revolve around the sun. Their location is:
The nearest “neighbor” of the Sun is Mercury, followed by Venus, then the Earth, then Mars and Jupiter, further from the Sun are Saturn, Uranus and the last one, Neptune.