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Planets

A planet is an astronomical body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.

The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, astrology, science, mythology, and religion. Five planets in the Solar Systemare visible to the naked eye. These were regarded by many early cultures as divine, or as emissaries of deities. As scientific knowledge advanced, human perception of the planets changed, incorporating a number of disparate objects. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) officially adopted a resolution defining planets within the Solar System. This definition is controversial because it excludes many objects of planetary mass based on where or what they orbit. Although eight of the planetary bodies discovered before 1950 remain "planets" under the modern definition, some celestial bodies, such as Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta (each an object in the solar asteroid belt), and Pluto (the first trans-Neptunian object discovered), that were once considered planets by the scientific community, are no longer viewed as such.

There are eight planets in the Solar System, which are in increasing distance from the Sun:

Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune

Jupiter is the largest, at 318 Earth masses, whereas Mercury is the smallest, at 0.055 Earth masses.

The planets of the Solar System can be divided into categories based on their composition:

Mercury

Diameter:	4,879 km
Mass:	3.30 x 10^23 kg (5.5% Earth)
Moons:	None
Orbit Distance:	57,909,227 km (0.39 AU)
Orbit Period:	88 days
Surface Temperature:	-173 to 427°C
First Record:	14th century BC
Recorded By:	Assyrian astronomers

Fast Facts about Mercury

Mercury does not have any moons or rings.
Your weight on Mercury would be 38% of your weight on Earth.
A day on the surface of Mercury lasts 176 Earth days.
A year on Mercury takes 88 Earth days.
Mercury has a diameter of 4,879 km, making it the smallest planet.
It’s not known who discovered Mercury.

Venus

Diameter:	12,104 km
Mass:	4.87 x 10^24 kg (81.5% Earth)
Moons:	None
Orbit Distance:	108,209,475 km (0.73 AU)
Orbit Period:	225 days
Surface Temperature:	462 °C
First Record:	17th century BC
Recorded By:	Babylonian astronomers

Fast Facts about Venus

Venus does not have any moons or rings.
Venus is nearly as big as the Earth with a diameter of 12,104 km.
Venus is thought to be made up of a central iron core, rocky mantle and silicate crust.
A day on the surface of Venus (solar day) would appear to take 117 Earth days.
A year on Venus takes 225 Earth days.
The surface temperature on Venus can reach 471 °C

Earth

Equatorial Diameter:	12,756 km
Polar Diameter:	12,714 km
Mass:	5.97 x 10^24 kg
Moons:	1 (The Moon)
Orbit Distance:	149,598,262 km (1 AU)
Orbit Period:	365.24 days
Surface Temperature:	-88 to 58°C

Fast Facts about Earth

The Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing.
Earth has a powerful magnetic field.
The Earth was once believed to be the centre of the universe.
There is only one natural satellite of the planet Earth.
Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.

Mars

Equatorial Diameter:	6,792 km
Polar Diameter:	6,752 km
Mass:	6.42 x 10^23 kg (10.7% Earth)
Moons:	2 (Phobos & Deimos)
Orbit Distance:	227,943,824 km (1.52 AU)
Orbit Period:	687 days (1.9 years)
Surface Temperature:	-153 to 20 °C
First Record:	2nd millennium BC
Recorded By:	Egyptian astronomers

Fast Facts about Mars

One day Mars will have a ring.
There are signs of liquid water on Mars.
Mars takes its name from the Roman god of war.
Pieces of Mars have fallen to Earth.
On Mars the Sun appears about half the size as it does on Earth.
Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system.
Only 18 missions to Mars have been successful.
Mars is home to the tallest mountain in the solar system.

Jupiter

Mass:1,898,130,000,000,000,000 billion kg (317.83 x Earth)
Equatorial Diameter:142,984 km
Polar Diameter:133,709 km
Equatorial Circumference:439,264 km
Known Moons:67
Notable Moons:Io, Europa, Ganymede, & Callisto
Known Rings:4
Orbit Distance:778,340,821 km (5.20 AU)
Orbit Period:4,332.82 Earth days (11.86 Earth years)
Surface Temperature:-108°C
First Record:7th or 8th Century BC
Recorded By:Babylonian astronomers

Fast facts about jupiter

Jupiter has 67 confirmed moons orbiting the planet.
The first recorded sighting of Jupiter were by the ancient Babylonians in around 7th or 8th BC.
Jupiter has the shortest day of the eight planets.
One orbit of the Sun takes Jupiter 11.86 Earth years.
Jupiter has a faint ring system around it.
Jupiter has at least 67 moons in satellite around the planet.
Eight spacecraft have visited Jupiter so far.

Saturn

Equatorial Diameter:	120,536 km
Polar Diameter:	108,728 km
Mass:	5.68 × 10^26 kg (95 Earths)
Moons:	62 (Titan, Enceladus, Iapetus & Rhea)
Rings:	30+ (7 Groups)
Orbit Distance:	1,426,666,422 km (9.54 AU)
Orbit Period:	10,756 days (29.5 years)
Effective Temperature:	-178 °C
First Record:	8th century BC
Recorded By:	Assyrians

Fast Facts about Saturn

Saturn can be seen with the naked eye.
Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers.
Saturn orbits the Sun once every 29.4 Earth years.
Saturn is the flattest planet.
Saturn’s upper atmosphere is divided into bands of clouds.
Saturn has oval-shaped storms similar to Jupiter’s.
Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen.
Saturn has the most extensive rings in the solar system

Uranus

Equatorial Diameter:	51,118 km
Polar Diameter:	49,946 km
Mass:	8.68 × 10^25 kg (15 Earths)
Moons:	27 (Miranda, Titania, Ariel, Umbriel & Oberon)
Rings:	13
Orbit Distance:	2,870,658,186 km (19.19 AU)
Orbit Period:	30,687 days (84.0 years)
Effective Temperature:	-216 °C
Discovery Date:	March 13th 1781
Discovered By:	William Herschel

Fast Facts about Uranus

Uranus was officially discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
Uranus turns on its axis once every 17 hours, 14 minutes.
Uranus makes one trip around the Sun every 84 Earth years.
Uranus makes one trip around the Sun every 84 Earth years.
Only one spacecraft has flown by Uranus.
Uranus has two sets of very thin dark coloured rings.
Uranus hits the coldest temperatures of any planet.

Neptune

Mass:102,410,000,000,000,000 billion kg (17.15x Earth)
Equatorial Diameter:49,528 km
Polar Diameter:48,682 km
Equatorial Circumference:155,600 km
Known Moons:14
Notable Moons:Triton
Known Rings:5
Orbit Distance:4,498,396,441 km (30.10 AU)
Orbit Period:60,190.03 Earth days (164.79 Earth years)
Surface Temperature:-201 °C
First Record:September 23rd 1846
Recorded By:Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier & Johann Galle

Fast Facts about Neptune

Neptune has 14 known moons.
Like the other outer planets, Neptune possesses a ring system,
Neptune spins very quickly on its axis.
Neptune has an average surface temperature of -214°C.
Neptune is the Roman God of the Sea.
Neptune also has a second storm called the Small Dark Spot.
The orbit path of Neptune is approximately 30 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun.
Neptune has the second largest gravity of any planet

Which planet is the biggest?

Jupiter is the biggest and is truly gaint. It is large enough for 11 Earths to fit across its face and 1,300 to fit inside it. There are four gaint planets in our solar system. The next biggest is saturn, followed by uranus, and neptune. They are also known as "gas giants" because of their colourful, ice-cold gas atmospheres.

Giant planet structure

Fast Facts

01.Temperature and density increase towards the centre of the gaint planets. This affects the physical state of the material the planets are made up of.

02. In jupiter and saturn, squashed gases become fluid and more like liquids. Deeper still, the gases are like molten metal.

03. In the heart of all four gaints are round cores of rocky and metallic material.

04. All four gaint planets have rings. They look solid from a distance but are made of individual pieces that follow their own orbits around their planets

WEIRD OR WHAT?

Jupiter has a powerful magnetic field - it is as if there is a large bar magnet inside the planet. It's the strongest field of any planet - about 20,000 times more forceful than Earth's.
Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods and ruler of the heavens.

Jupiter
Diameter: 142,984 km (88,846 miles)
Distance from Sun:778.3 million km (483.6 million miles)
Rotation: 9.9 hours
Orbit of the Sun: 11.9 years

Saturn
Diameter: 120,536 km (74,898 miles)
Distance from Sun: 1.43 million km (888 miles)
Rotation: 10.7 hours
Orbit of the Sun: 29.5 years

Uranus
Diameter: 51,118 km (31,763 miles)
Distance from Sun: 2.87 billion km (1.78 billion miles)
Rotation: 17.3 hours
Orbit of the Sun: 84.0 years

Neptune
Distance: 49,532 km
Distance from Sun: 4.5 billion km (2.8 billion miles)
Rotation: 16.1 hours
Orbit of the Sun: 164.8 years

Tell me more: Jupiter

Clouds: Jupiter's stripes are clouds in its violent atmosphere. They are pulled into bands parallel to the equator by the planet's fast spin.

Zones: White bnds of cool rising air.

Spots: Giant weather stroms.

Great Red Spot: This weather storm is bigger than Earth. It rotates anticlockwise every 6-7 days, and has been raging for more than 300 years.

Belts: Red -brown bands of warmer, falling air.

Tell me more: Saturn

Saturn is named after the father of the Romangod Jupiter.
The first to see Saturn's rings was italian astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1610. He thought they were handle-like ears fixed to the sides of the planet.
None of the gas gaints are perfect spheres. They are all oblate (squashed balls). Saturn's diameter is almost one-tenth bigger at its equator than at ita poles.
Rings: Saturn has seven main rings and hundreds of smaller ringlets.

Tell me more: Uranus

Uranus is named after the father of the Roman god Saturn.
Uranus became the seventh planet in the solar system, and the first to be discovered by telescope when it was unexpectedly spotted by astronomer William Hershel on 13 March 1781.
Uranus rolls around its orbit on its side. The planet is titled over by 98 degrees, possibly as a result of a collision with a large asteroid when it was young.
Like the other three gas gaints, Uranus's atmosphere is mostly hydrogen. It also contains methane, which absorbs red light and makes the planet blue.

Tell me more: Neptune

Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.
It's the fourth largest of the gas gaints .
Neptune is about 30 times furthur from the Sun than Earth.
It is the coldest gaint, -200 C (-320 F) at its cloud tops, and has the fastest winds of any planet, reaching speeds up to 2,160 kph (1,340 mph) near its equator.

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