Planets are those heavenly bodies which around the sun in their own elliptical orbit.
There are eight Planets in our solar system named : Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
According to Greek language, planet means ' Wanderer ' and this name is given as the planets revolve around the sun.
These planets are classified into two categories :
1. Inner planets
>>> The planets which lies inside the asteroid belt are called inner planets. They are also called terrestrial planets. They are Mercury,Venus,Earth and Mars.
2. Outer planets
>>> The planets which lies outside the asteroid belt are called outer planets. They are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Inner planets have thin rocky crust and the core of molten metals. The outer planets are made up of gases having a ring-like structure around them. Therefore,outer planets are also called gas giants.
Here is the short description and characteristics of each planets of our solar system :
1. Mercury
- Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun.
- It is the smallest planet among all the planets of the solar system.
- It is also the innermost planet of our solar system.
- It is the fastest revolving planet.
- Its rotation speed is 59 days.
- The revolution period is 88 days.
- It does not have any satellite and atmosphere.
- The days are very hot and night are extremely cold on this planet.
- Its temperature ranges from -170°C to 427°C and its diameter is about 4880 km.(0.4 AU)
NOTE: 1 A.U.= 1.5×10^8 Km
2. Venus
- Venus is the hottest and the brightest planet of the solar system.
- It is also known as the evening or the morning star because it is seen in the sky in evening and morning.
- It does not have any moon(satellite).
- Its temperature is about 480°C.
- Its diameter is about 12104 km.
- Its mean distance from the sun is 1.08×10^8 km.(0.7 AU)
- It is the closest planet form our earth. So it is called the sister planet of the earth.
Extra point:
Why Venus is the hottest and the brightest planet?
👉👉Venus has the atmosphere of CO2 gas, which is a greenhouse gas. So it traps the solar radiation and becomes the hottest and the brightest planet.
Important tips:
In Venus,the sun rises from west and sets in the east due to the extreme inclination of its axis which is beyond 180°.
3. Earth
- Earth is only the planet in our solar system which has suitable environment for the survival of living things.
- It is also called the blue planet or the green planet as it is seen so due to the reflection of light from the water bodies on its surface.
- Earth has only one satellite i.e., the moon.
- The distance between the sun and the earth is 1.5×10^8 Km(1 AU).
- Its diameter is 12,756 Km.
- Its rotation speed is 24 hours.
- Its revolution period is 365 days.
- Earth has suitable temperature, abundant water,pressure,minerals and atmosphere having O2 as the abundant gas made the earth suitable for the survival of living beings.
4. Mars
- Mars is also called red planet.
- Its distance from the sun is about 2.26×10^8 Km (1.6 AU).
- Its diameter is about 6,720 Km.
- Its rotation speed is 24 hours and 37 minutes.
- Its one revolution period is 687 days.
- The two satellites of mars are Phobos and Diemos.
- White polar caps are seen in two sides of this planet due to the frozen ice of gases.
- Its atmosphere is composed especially of carbondioxide.
Extra point:
Why Mars is called a red planet?
👉👉Mars is called a red planet as it appears red due to the presence of iron oxide (limonite) on its surface.
Important tips:
Nix Olympia (Olympus) is an extinct volcano in Mars which is three times the height of Mt.Everest (Sagarmatha).
5. Jupiter
- Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system which is always covered with clouds.
- A red spot is visible on its surface which is formed due to disorder like atmospheric hurricane.
- Its distance from the sun is about
- 7.78×10^8 Km(5.2 AU)
- The diameter of Jupiter is about 1,40,800 Km.
- Its surface temperature is about -150° C.
- The rotation period is 10 hours.
- The revolution period is 12 years.
- Jupiter has 63 satellites. Some of them are Europa,Callisto,Io,Ganymede etc.
6. Saturn
- Saturn is the second largest planet of the solar system having prominent rings made up of rock particles and snow.
- Its distance from sun is about 16.294×10^8 Km(10 AU).
- The diameter of this planet is about 1,20,585 Km.
- Its rotation period is 10 hours 14 minutes.
- Its revolution period is 29.5 years.
- Saturn has 60 satellites.The biggest satellite among them is Titan which is of 5,150 km diameter.
- Its surface temperature is -180°C.
Important point:
The density of Saturn is so less(0.6 g/cm^3) that it can easily float on water. It is because the density of Saturn is less than that of water.
7. Uranus
- Uranus is the second farthest planet from the sun after Neptune.
- It is made up of small crystals of methane gas.
- Its distance from the sun is 2.87 ×10^9 Km(19.6 AU).
- Its diameter is about 51200 Km.
- Ita surface temperature is about
- - 216 °C.
- The rotation period of this planet is 17 hours and 14 minutes.
- And the revolution period is 84 years.
- This planet consists of about 27 satellites. Some of the major satellites are Miranda, Ariel, Umbrial, Titania, Oberon etc.
8. Neptune
- Neptune is the farthest planet from the sun.
- It is the coldest planet among all the planets.
- It is the outermost planet of our solar system.
- It is mainly made up of three compounds : hydrogen, helium and methane.
- The distance between the sun and Neptune is about 4.48 × 10^9 Km(30 AU).
- The diameter is about 48,000 Km.
- Its surface temperature is about - 220° C.
- It consists of 13 satellites in which Triton is the biggest satellite of this planet.
Bonus tips:
Pluto was considered as a planet before but now Pluto was not considered as a planet of our solar system.
What's the reason behind it?
The main reason is that pluto intersects the path of Neptune and it is so small.so that it was removed as a planet of the solar system.
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