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Lets start with our solar system.
1. What is a solar system.
A solar system is a group of planets that orbit a central star. In our case we orbit a star called the sun. Our star (the sun) is about 11,000 degrees F Or 6100 C on the out side or the part we can see. It gets much hotter the deeper you go. To put it lightly when it comes to the size and mass of our sun its huge. If you took all the matter in our solar system including all the planets the sun claims 98 percent of that mass. Jupiter takes up most of the rest. But how big is it compared to the other stars in the universe? You will be surprised, its just an average size star when compared to other stars. You might find yourself asking why does it look so much bigger than the rest of the stars. Answer because its much closer. The sun is on average 93 million miles from earth or 8 light minuets (The distance light travels in a minute is a light minute.) One of the next closest stars is called Alpha Centauri its 4.4 light YEARS away, so it looks much smaller. Ya I know its hard to believe that all those little dots you see every night in the sky are huge massive suns but its true. If you were looking at our sun from another star it would look like every other star you see evey night. Just a little dot of light in the sky. Makes you wonder if someone from another solar system is looking at our star (the sun) and saying I wonder if there are any planets with life orbiting that star... Hmmm makes you think.... For more information on our solar system click this link SOLAR SYSTEM For more info on our sun click SUN
Ok now we have a basic understating of the sun but what about or solar systems planets.
Recently we downgraded Pluto its no longer considered a planet. So there are 8 planets in our solar system (will miss you Pluto) Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. Ill discuss a little info ill bet you didnt know for each.
MERCURY EARTH COMPARISON
1.Mercury, Its the closest planet to the sun and orbits the sun in about 87 days, this means a year on mercury is 87 days wow we would live well into our hundreds if we lived there. You will be surprised when you hear this next fact. Its not the hottest planet in our solar system, granted its hot about 700 degrees F in the day and it drops to about -290 at night. Im sure your asking yourself why does it get so cold at night, answer there is no atmosphere on mercury therefore nothing to hold the heat in when the surface is opposite the sun at night. For more information on Mercury visit the link MERCURY
VENUS EARTH COMPARISON
2Venus, commonly called Earths sister planet due to the similarity in size. Thats where the similarities end. Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system even though its not the closest. Why because Venus has a very thick atmosphere composed mostly of Carbon Dioxide and Sulfur dioxide basically battery acid. Temperatures on Venus can reach over 800 degrees F or 465 C
It takes about 225 days for Venus to orbit the sun. Needless to say Venus would not be a pleasant place to visit. For more info click this link. VENUS
EARTH
3. Earth, Third planet from the sun, average distance 93 million miles, Natural satellites 1 called the (moon) well do I really need to say anything more you live there.
MARS EARTH COMPARISON
4.Mars, is the 4th planet from the sun and commonly called the red planet. Mars has a red appearance simply because its rusting. The soil on mars is rich in Iron oxide or commonly called rust. Its much smaller than Earth the only planet smaller is Mercury. Mars is the probably the best explored planet in our solar system. We have sent several landers there over the past couple decades you can track these landers on the google earth program. It takes Mars 687 Earth days to orbit the sun. Mars has 2 natural satellites (moons) Phobos and Deimos these moons are very small when compared to our moon. Mars has the largest mountain/Volcano in the solar system its called Olympus Mons, three times taller than Mt. Everest. For more info on mars click this link MARS
THE GAS GIANTS
JUPITER EARTH COMPARISON
5.Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system and first in the gas giant category. Why is Jupiter called a gas planet. Well simply because its composed of mostly gas there is no solid surface on Jupiter and therefore you could never land on it. Jupiter is composed out of mainly Hydrogen then Helium and several other gasses in small amounts. To look at the surface of Jupiter its very colorful and just cool to look at. It takes Jupiter over 11 earth years to orbit the sun wow that's far out there. Jupiter has many natural satellites or moons orbiting around it, more than any other planet. Astronomers cant even agree on a number. The largest moons of Jupiter are Ganymede (the largest moon in the solar system), IO, Europa, and Callisto For more information on Jupiter click on this link JUPITER
6. Saturn, rivaled in size only by Jupiter its the second largest planet in the solar system and personally I think the coolest looking. All the gas giants have rings around them but Saturn is by far the biggest and most spectacular. Saturn is composed of mostly hydrogen followed by helium and small amounts of other gasses. Saturn has many natural satellites 34 named satellites. Saturn takes about 29 earth years to orbit the sun once. Hence 1 year on Saturn would be like 29 years on earth. For more information on Saturn visit this link SATURN
URANUS EARTH COMPARISON
URANUS, is the seventh planet from the sun and the 3rd largest planet in the solar system. It appears as a blueish green color and pretty much featureless. Now were really getting deep into the solar system. Uranus is about 1,784,860,000 miles from the sun and it takes light 2 hours and 40 min to reach Uranus. Like the other gas giants Uranus has no known solid surface its made up of methane gas and liquid ammonia. However its important to know that scientists cant see deep into the clouds of these gas giants we really dont know what lies deep within these planets. Possible solid rocky surfaces about the size of earth are underneath. Uranus is the first planet that cant be seen from earth without some sort of magnifying device. Uranus orbits the sun every 84 years (ya one year on Uranus and your and old man or women ha ha). For more on Uranus click this link URANUS
NEPTUNE EARTH COMPARISON
8.Neptune, is the eighth planet from the sun and the smallest of the gas giants. Dont let that be misleading its massive compared to the earth. Its made up of mostly methane gas giving it a blue appearance. Like all the other gas giants it has a ring system although very faint most pictures you see of Neptune dont even show its rings. Neptune has the fastest and strongest winds in the solar system. Recently discovered new moons around Neptune it now has 13 known moons. It takes over 164 years for Neptune to orbit the sun one time. You wouldnt even live to be one year old on Neptune. For more information on Neptune click this link Neptune
IF YOU ENJOYED THIS WEB PAGE STAY TUNED ILL POST PART TWO
