The solar system
Introduction
The Sun and the celestial bodies which revolve around it form the solar system.
It consists of large number of bodies such as planets, comets, asteroids and
meteors. The gravitational attraction between the sun and these objects keeps
them revolving around it.
Reason behind the name of Solar System
Our planetary system is named the "solar system" because our Sun is named Sol,
after the Latin word for Sun, "solis," and anything related to the Sun we call
"solar."
Evolution of Solar System
Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of
interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of
a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it
formed a solar nebula – a spinning, swirling disk of material.
Till 2006 there were nine planets in the solar system. Pluto was the farthest
planet from the sun. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU)
adopted a new definition of a planet. Pluto does not fit this definition. It
is no longer a planet of the solar system.
The Sun
The sun is the nearest star from us. It is continuously emitting huge
amounts of heat and light. The sun is the source of almost all energy on
the earth. In fact, the Sun is the main source of heat and light for all
the planets.
Why it is named as Sun? Surface temperature: 5,778 K
Mass: 1.989 × 10^30 kg
Distance to Earth:
The word sun comes from the Old English word sunne, which itself comes 149.6 million km
Age: 4.603 billion years
from the older Proto-Germanic language's word sunnōn. In ancient times Radius: 696,340 km
Density: 1.41 g/cm³
the Sun was widely seen as a god, and the name for Sun was the name of Absolute magnitude: 4.83
that god. Ancient Greeks called the Sun Helios, and this word is still used
to describe the Sun today.
The Planets
The planets look like stars, but they do not have light of their own.
The simplest method of identifying planets from stars is that star twinkle,
whereas planets does not. Also the planets keep changing their positions with
respect to the stars. A planet has a definite path in which it revolves around the
sun. This path is called an orbit. The time taken by a planet to complete one
revolution. The period of revolution increases as the distance of the planet
increases from the sun. Beside revolving around the sun, a planet also rotates on
its own axis like a top. The time taken by a planet to complete one rotation is
called its period of rotation. Some planets are known to have moons/ satellites
revolving round them. Any celestial body is called its satellite. They are used in
communication. They are used in weather forecasting system. They are used in
GPS (Global Positioning System) They are used to transport instruments and
passengers to the space to perform experiments. The Earth can be said to be
called as satellites revolving around the sun.
• Mercury - Swift Planet
• Venus - Morning and Evening Star!
• Earth - the Blue Planet
• Mars - Red planet
• Jupiter - the Gas Giant
• Saturn - Ringed Planet
• Uranus - bulls-eye planet
• Neptune - The Windy Planet
Mercury
The smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun, Mercury is
only slightly larger than Earth's Moon.
From the surface of Mercury, the Sun would appear more than three times as
large as it does when viewed from Earth, and the sunlight would be as much Distance from Sun: 58 million km
as seven times brighter. Despite its proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the Orbital period: 88 days
Radius: 2,439.7 km
hottest planet in our solar system – that title belongs to nearby Venus, Surface area: 74.8 million km²
Mass: 3.285 × 10^23 kg
thanks to its dense atmosphere. (0.055 M⊕)
Length of day: 58d 15h 30m
Because of Mercury's elliptical – egg-shaped – orbit, and sluggish rotation, Apparent magnitude (V): 0.23
the Sun appears to rise briefly, set, and rise again from some parts of the
planet's surface. The same thing happens in reverse at sunset.
10 Need-to-Know Things About Mercury
• Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system – only slightly larger than
Earth's Moon
• Mercury is the planet that orbits the closest to the Sun.
• Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system – traveling through space
at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second. The closer a planet is to the
Sun, the faster it travels. Since Mercury is the fastest planet and has the
shortest distance to travel around the Sun, it has the shortest year of all
the planets in our solar system – 88 days.
• Mercury is a rocky planet, also known as a terrestrial planet. Mercury has a
solid, cratered surface, much like the Earth's moon.
• Mercury's thin atmosphere, or exosphere, is composed mostly of oxygen (O2),
sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K).
• Mercury has no moons.
• There are no rings around Mercury.
• It is unlikely that life as we know it could survive on Mercury due to solar
radiation, and extreme temperatures.
• Standing on Mercury's surface at its closest approach to the Sun, our star
would appear more than three times larger than it does on Earth.
• Two NASA missions have explored Mercury: Mariner 10 was the first to fly
by Mercury, and MESSENGER was the first to orbit. ESA's BepiColombo is
on its way to Mercury.
Why it is called as mercury?
Mercury is named after the messenger for their gods. The Roman Mercury had
wings on his helmet and shoes. He could travel very quickly from place to place.
The planet Mercury moves quickly around the sun.
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary
neighbor. It’s one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s
often called Earth’s twin because it’s similar in size and density. These are not
identical twins, however – there are radical differences between the two
[Link] has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it’s Distance from Sun:
perpetually shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat, 108.2 million km
Radius: 6,051.8 km
causing a runaway greenhouse effect. It’s the hottest planet in our solar Orbital period: 225 days
Surface area: 460.2 million km²
system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun. Surface temperatures on Mass: 4.867 × 10^24 kg
(0.815 M⊕)
Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to Density: 5.24 g/cm³
Length of day: 243d 0h 0m
melt lead. The surface is a rusty color and it’s peppered with intensely
crunched mountains and thousands of large volcanoes. Scientists think it’s
possible some volcanoes are still active.
Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface – more than 90 times that of
Earth – similar to the pressure you'd encounter a mile below the ocean on
Earth.