The Solar System and what it contains
Our solar system is situated in the milky way galaxy. There are billions of other Solar Systems in the same galaxy, but ours is the only one known to have life. The Solar System is a vast place; It consists of a star, eight planets, five dwarf planets and an asteroid belt.
The Star:
Our star is our very own sun! It gives us heat and light.Light from the Sun takes around 8 minutes to reach us. It is 149,600,000km away from us, and at least 1.3 million times larger than Earth. The sun rotates on an axis. It takes 27 days to complete a rotation. The Sun itself makes up 99.86% of the Solar System's mass.
The Planets:
A planet is a celestial body that is large enough to be rounded by it's own gravity, and has cleared it's orbit of other items (Space rocks, asteroids, etc.) All planets rotate on an axis, but the rotation period varies with different planets. Earth takes 24 hours to rotate once on it's axis.
The eight planets in order of distance from the sun are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. A good way to remember this is by using an acronym; My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles. The first four planets are called terrestrial planets, while the last four are known as gas giants. The largest planet is Jupiter, and it has the largest gravity. Venus is the hottest planet. Mercury is the planet which completes it's orbit fastest. Earth is the only one which hosts life. Saturn has the largest rings. Neptune is the coldest. Mars is known as the red planet and is the closest replication to the Earth.
The Dwarf Planets:
The five dwarf planets are: Pluto, Ceres Makemake, Haumea and Eris. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that is neither planet nor satellite. Pluto until 2008 was a normal planet, after which it got categorised as a dwarf planet. It is also the second largest dwarf planet in our solar system, and the tenth largest body in direct orbit of the Sun. Ceres is the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, and also the largest asteroid. Haumea is one third of the size of Pluto, yet it has two satellites. Makemake is the largest object in the Kupier belt. Eris is the largest dwarf planet.
The Asteroid Belt:
The asteroid belt is a bunch of asteroids situated roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. About half of the mass in the asteroid belt is made up of the dwarf planet Ceres and the three asteroids Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea. The asteroid belt was discovered in 1958 by the artificial satellite Explorer 1, which also happened to be the first artificial satellite launched by the U.S.
The Star:
Our star is our very own sun! It gives us heat and light.Light from the Sun takes around 8 minutes to reach us. It is 149,600,000km away from us, and at least 1.3 million times larger than Earth. The sun rotates on an axis. It takes 27 days to complete a rotation. The Sun itself makes up 99.86% of the Solar System's mass.
The Planets:
A planet is a celestial body that is large enough to be rounded by it's own gravity, and has cleared it's orbit of other items (Space rocks, asteroids, etc.) All planets rotate on an axis, but the rotation period varies with different planets. Earth takes 24 hours to rotate once on it's axis.
The eight planets in order of distance from the sun are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. A good way to remember this is by using an acronym; My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles. The first four planets are called terrestrial planets, while the last four are known as gas giants. The largest planet is Jupiter, and it has the largest gravity. Venus is the hottest planet. Mercury is the planet which completes it's orbit fastest. Earth is the only one which hosts life. Saturn has the largest rings. Neptune is the coldest. Mars is known as the red planet and is the closest replication to the Earth.
The Dwarf Planets:
The five dwarf planets are: Pluto, Ceres Makemake, Haumea and Eris. A dwarf planet is a celestial body that is neither planet nor satellite. Pluto until 2008 was a normal planet, after which it got categorised as a dwarf planet. It is also the second largest dwarf planet in our solar system, and the tenth largest body in direct orbit of the Sun. Ceres is the only dwarf planet in the inner solar system, and also the largest asteroid. Haumea is one third of the size of Pluto, yet it has two satellites. Makemake is the largest object in the Kupier belt. Eris is the largest dwarf planet.
The Asteroid Belt:
The asteroid belt is a bunch of asteroids situated roughly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. About half of the mass in the asteroid belt is made up of the dwarf planet Ceres and the three asteroids Vesta, Pallas and Hygiea. The asteroid belt was discovered in 1958 by the artificial satellite Explorer 1, which also happened to be the first artificial satellite launched by the U.S.