Name the nearest planet to the Sun!And the largest planet of our system? And how many of them, actually? Not everyone immediately remembers the answers to these questions. Those who sincerely believed that they know such simple things will be even more surprised. In practice, it turns out that astronomy is a very dynamic science and knowledge becomes obsolete incredibly quickly: it would seem that indisputable facts after a few years receive their refutation or addition. And the picture of the universe already looks completely
Name the nearest planet to the Sun
The planet nearest to the star is Mercury.It has a very small size, stony structure. And proximity to the Sun causes an incredibly high temperature on the surface of the planet. Mercury is the fastest planet in our system. The duration of its rotation around the Sun is 88 Earth days.
А теперь планеты земной группы назовите!We have already remembered the nearest planet to the Sun. Tip: besides Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are separated from other planets orbiting the star, with an asteroid belt. Therefore, they are called the terrestrial planets.
In size, Venus is close to Earth, onlyslightly yielding to her. However, the atmosphere on this planet is very dense, ten times denser than the earth, and incredibly hot. These features of the atmosphere determine the characteristic delicate color of the planet, for which it was identified with the female deity of love. Interestingly, here the day lasts as many as 243 Earth days, but the Venusian year is shorter - only 225 days. In addition, it is the only planet in our star system that rotates counterclockwise. There is no generally accepted explanation for this phenomenon.
Mars is the personification of war.
Many reddish bodies in the starry skyancient peoples associated with fire and destruction. Actually, thanks to its sinister form, Mars got its name, becoming in Roman mythology the god of war. On this planet is the highest mountain of the entire solar system. Mount Olympus reaches almost 27 km in height, it is three times higher than our terrestrial Everest. The surface of Mars is heavily dotted with a variety of canyons and mountain ranges. Some of them have such a bizarre form that people who watched them through a telescope were more than once in a hurry to announce the artificial origin of these formations.
Jupiter and Saturn - giant planets
That's right - these celestial bodies arereal giants among the planets. Jupiter is 318 times the mass of the Earth. Interestingly, it is a gas cluster. A spaceship cannot land on the planet, since it does not have solid ground, but consists mainly of active hydrogen and helium. Saturn exceeds the mass of the Earth by about 95 times, although it is also not a solid body in the earthly representation. It is famous for its rings, which are clearly visible around the planet. They are formed from dust and small satellites rotating in orbit. Only more or less large satellites in Saturn, there are 62.
Uranus is a planet with many satellites.
Of all the planets, Uranus is the easiest. Its interesting feature is that it rotates as if lying on its side.
Neptune - the planet of the solar system
The mass of Neptune is 17 times greater than the Earth.Moreover, its density is also higher than that of the earth. Neptune has thirteen satellites, the largest of which is called Triton. It is the only planetary satellite in our system that moves in the opposite direction.
And what kind of body closes this series?
А теперь попрошу вас, последнюю планету, rotating around the sun, name it! We have already named the nearest planet to the Sun, the gas giants, the planet with the ring and the largest satellite of Neptune, but what about the boundaries of our star system? If you believe that this is Pluto, then you are mistaken. A few years ago, such an answer would be true, but not today. After the discovery of some other bodies behind Pluto that are not inferior to him in the size of bodies that do not move, however, in a clear planetary orbit, the scientific world has posed the question: “What, indeed, is it legitimate to call a planet?” The consensus was as follows. The planet must:
1) turn on the orbit of the Sun;
2) be of sufficient size to take a spherical shape under the action of its own gravity;
3) to clear the path for himself in orbit, and not to descend from it under the influence of other bodies.
Alas, Pluto does not correspond to these parameters, like many bodies in the so-called Kuiper belt, open on the outskirts of the solar system in the last decade: Eris, Sedna and others.
