A planet is a large space object which revolves around a star. It also reflects that star's light. Eight planets have been discovered in our solar system. Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the planets closest to the Sun. They are called the inner planets. The inner planets are made up mostly of rock. The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are large balls of gases with rings around them. All eight planets travel around the Sun in a different orbit.
1Mercury Winged Messenger of Roman Gods
(also God of Trade, Travel and Thievery) Swiftest planet - completes one revolution in 88 days
2Venus Roman Goddess of Love & Beauty Brightest object in night sky after Moon
- appears beautiful in the heavens
3Earth Not named after any God Only planet not named after mythological character
4Mars Roman God of War Its red color associated by ancient civilizations with blood of battles
5Jupiter King of Roman Gods Largest and most massive of the nine planets
6Saturn Roman God of Farming & Agriculture
(also, father of Jupiter in Roman mythology) Saturn is adjacent to Jupiter
7Uranus God of the Sky & Heavens
(also, father of Saturn) Uranus is adjacent to Saturn
8Neptune Roman God of the Sea Neptune has a beautiful blue color
9Pluto Roman God of the Underworld God of the Underworld was capable of becoming invisible
- planet is farthest from Sun and in perpetual darkness
MERCURY
The temperature on Mercury gets so hot it could melt a tin pan. Mercury is the second smallest planet in our solar system. Only the planet Pluto is smaller. Mercury is about the same size as our Moon. It is very close to the Sun. Mercury travels around the Sun faster than any other planet. That is how it got its name. It was named after Mercury, the swift messenger of the gods in ancient Roman mythology. Mercury can only be seen from Earth just before sunrise or just after sunset, but not in the middle of the night. That is because Mercury always appears near the Sun when viewed from Earth. Mercury has a very thin atmosphere. Humans would not be able to live there. The surface of Mercury has holes in it where objects such as meteorites and asteroids crashed into it. Four billion years ago, a very large asteroid hit Mercury. It made a hole on Mercury's surface big enough to hold the state of Texas.
Facts about Mercury
Average Solar Distance 57.8 million km
Revolution Period 87.9 Earth days
Rotation Period 58.6 Earth days
Equatorial diameter 4878 km
Gravitational Pull 0.38 times the Earth
Natural Satellites 0
VENUS
Venus is called the Evening Star. It is called this because it looks so bright to us from Earth. Venus and Earth are almost the same size. Venus is the closest planet to Earth, but it does not have oceans or human life like Earth. Venus gets so hot during the day that it could melt a lead cannonball. The temperature rises to 484 degrees Celsius on the side facing the Sun. Venus has very thick, rapidly spinning clouds which cover its surface. These clouds hold heat in. That is why Venus gets so hot. These clouds also reflect sunlight. That is why Venus appears so bright to us here on Earth. There are constant thunderstorms in these clouds. The surface of Venus has many craters which were made by meteorites and asteroids crashing into the planet. Venus also has volcanoes. This planet is unusual because it rotates in a direction opposite that of all of the other planets. Venus spins very slowly as it orbits the Sun. The thick clouds which cover Venus cause a "greenhouse effect". The clouds prevent heat from leaving the atmosphere. If you have ever been in a greenhouse at a plant farm, you probably were very warm. This is what Venus is like - only much, much hotter.
Average Solar Distance 108.2 million km
Revolution Period 224.7 Earth days
Rotation Period 243 Earth days
Equatorial diameter 12,100 km
Gravitational Pull 0.91 times the Earth
Natural Satellites 0
MARS
Some of the meteorites found on Earth are actually pieces of the planet Mars. As of June 2006, thirty-four "Martian meteorites" have been found. The temperature on Mars can be very, very cold. On its warmest day, Mars can still be a very cold place. At the top and bottom of the planet are poles just like on Earth. During the Martian winter, ice caps can be seen at the poles.
Space probes have landed on Mars. These probes were sent on a fact-finding mission by the United States. They performed experiments on the Martian dirt and atmosphere. The dirt was found to contain clay which was rich in iron. The iron is what gives Mars its red color.
Mars has many craters which were formed by meteorites or asteroids hitting it. Mars also has some of the tallest volcanoes and some of the deepest valleys in our solar system. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos which have unusual shapes. Scientists think these potato-shaped moons were once asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull. Small rovers landed on Mars and found evidence that long ago water flowed freely on the Martian surface.
Average Solar Distance 228 million km
Revolution Period 686.98 Earth days
Rotation Period 24.6 hours
Equatorial diameter 6786 km
Gravitational Pull 0.38 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 2
JUPITER
Jupiter is so large that all of the other planets in the solar system could fit inside of it. Jupiter is a large gas planet whose clouds change colors daily. This planet is made mostly of hydrogen and helium gases. Jupiter gives off two times more heat than it gets from the Sun. It shines very brightly in the night sky for nine months of the year when it is closest to Earth. Huge areas of swirling gases can be found in Jupiter's atmosphere. The largest swirling area of gas is called the Great Red Spot. Scientists believe this is a large hurricane-like storm which has lasted for hundreds of years. Large bolts of lightning have also been seen in Jupiter's atmosphere. Pictures taken by space probes have shown thin rings around Jupiter. Jupiter has forty-eight named moons (and may have as many as 63!). One of Jupiter's moons, Io, has active volcanoes on it. Areas on Io that are near the volcanoes are very, very hot. In July of 1994, Jupiter was hit by pieces of the Shoemaker-Levy comet. Dark areas appeared in Jupiter's atmosphere after the large pieces hit the planet.
Solar Distance 778.3 million km
Revolution Period 11.78 Earth years
Rotation Period 9 hours 55 minutes
Equatorial diameter 143,000 km
Gravitational Pull 2.54 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 48+
SATURN
When seen through a telescope, Saturn is one of the most beautiful sights in the night sky. It looks like a big ball inside of rings. Saturn is a very large gas planet which spins very rapidly on its axis. It spins so fast that it flattens out the top and the bottom of the planet. The fast spin also causes Saturn to bulge at its equator. Saturn's atmosphere has winds which can blow at over 1800 kilometers per hour! The white spots on Saturn are believed to be powerful storms. Saturn is surrounded by over 1000 rings made of ice and dust. Some of the rings are very thin and some are very thick. The size of the particles in the rings range from pebble-size to house-size. Scientists believe that the particles came from the destruction of moons circling the planet. As comets and meteorites smashed the moons, Saturn's gravitational pull shaped the particles into rings. Saturn has at least 35 moons. Some of these moons orbit the planet within the rings, creating gaps in the rings. The Hubble Space Telescope photographed a storm on Saturn. This storm was as wide as the Earth.
Solar Distance 1.429 billion km
Revolution Period 29.46 Earth years
Rotation Period 10 hours 40 minutes
Equatorial diameter 120,660 km
Gravitational Pull 0.93 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 35 (possibly more)
URANUS
Uranus is one of the smaller gas giants in our solar system, but it is still large enough to hold 64 planets the size of Earth. Uranus tilts over so far on its axis that it rotates on its side. Because of this, its poles are sometimes pointed almost directly at the Sun. Uranus' atmosphere is made up of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The temperature in the upper atmosphere is very cold. The cold methane gas is what gives Uranus its blue-green color. The rapid rotation of Uranus causes winds up to 600 kilometers per hour to blow in its atmosphere. Uranus has eleven known rings which contain dark, boulder-sized particles. Uranus has 27 named moons. Some of these moons are less than 100 kilometers wide and black as coal. When William Herschel discovered Uranus, he at first thought he had discovered a comet.
Solar Distance 2.871 billion km
Revolution Period 84.01 Earth years
Rotation Period 17 hours 14 minutes
Equatorial diameter 51,118 km
Gravitational Pull 0.8 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 27
NEPTUNE
It is so cold on Neptune that you would need skin thicker than a polar bear's to stay warm. Neptune and Uranus are very much alike. They are both large gas planets that look like big blue-green balls in the sky. Neptune has winds in its atmosphere which blow at over 2000 kilometers per hour! This planet has large, dark circles on its surface which astronomers believe to be storms. Neptune has two thick and two thin rings which surround it. Neptune also has at least nine moons. Four of these moons orbit the planet within the rings. One of Neptune's moons, Triton, orbits the planet in a direction opposite to Neptune's other moons. Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun. Not only does Triton orbit Neptune in a direction opposite the other moons, but it is made of rock and ice. This is very different from Neptune's other moons.
Solar Distance 4.501 billion km
Revolution Period 164.79 Earth years
Rotation Period 16.11 hours
Equatorial diameter 49,528 km
Gravitational Pull 1.2 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 9+
PLUTO
Pluto is actually smaller than one of Neptune's moons, Triton. For many years, Pluto was thought of as the farthest known planet from the Sun. It has a very unusual orbit. Once every 248 Earth years, Pluto swings inside the orbit of Neptune. It stays there for twenty years. During those twenty years, Pluto is closer to the Sun than Neptune. While it is closer to the Sun, Pluto has an atmosphere. The methane and nitrogen frozen at the poles thaw out, rise, and temporarily form an atmosphere. As it moves toward its farthest point from the Sun, Pluto's atmosphere freezes and falls back on the surface of the planet. Since the year 2000, astronomers realized that Pluto was not like the other eight planets but very much like a new group of objects found in the outer solar system. In 2006, astronomers re-classified Pluto to be a dwarf planet.
Pluto has three moons. Pluto's largest moon, Charon, is half the size of Pluto. In 2005, astronomers observed two more moons of Pluto. The moons were named Nix and Hydra. The Earth gets more light from a full moon than Pluto does from the Sun.
Average Solar Distance 6 billion km
Revolution Period 248 Earth years
Rotation Period 6.4 Earth days
Equatorial diameter 2400 km
Gravitational Pull 0.04 times that of the Earth
Natural Satellites 1+
2007-02-13 02:48:38
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answer #1
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answered by Mystic Magic 5
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The answer is NO. The reason is, there is no other SOLAR system. The star system we are in is called the SOLAR system because the name of our sun is "SOL". There is no other star out there named "Sol" that we are aware of. (Therefore, no other "Solar" system.) As for STAR systems, there is a very good possibility of inhabition of life. It might be moss, it might be fish, it might be something more. Having 2 planets sharing a close orbit to each other with a smaller star could yield the same results as 2 planets of varied orbits of a larger star. So as for LIFE...anything is possible. As for Solar System, I don't think so.
2016-05-24 04:53:12
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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