PLANET FACTS : INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE EIGHT PLANETS

    

When you look at the stars and the galaxy, you feel that you are not just from any particular piece of land, but from the solar system. – Kalpana Chawla

In this post I’ll be talking about the most suspenseful topic of all time, “PLANETS AND GALAXIES”. As you all know there are 8 planets posses’ different facts and secrets:

1.    MERCURY

2.    VENUS

3.    EARTH

4.    JUPITER

5.    SATURN

6.    MARS

7.    URANUS

8.    NEPTUNE

Firstly, I want to tell you all about the order of the planets from closest to the Sun outwards is:

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

The largest planet in the solar system is JUPITER, followed by SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE, EARTH, VENUS, MARS with the smallest being MERCURY.

Let’s read some interesting facts about planets:

MERCURY:

                                    

• A year in Mercury is of 88 days, and a mercury day is equal to 176 earth days: Because Mercury is tidally locked to the sun due to the rotation of the planet.

• Mercury has a very thin atmosphere: It is made up of atoms from the surface of the planet.

• The densest planet after Earth is Mercury: Despite having a small size it is the densest planet after earth due to the composition of heavy rocks and metals.

• Mercury is named after the messenger of the gods: The messenger of the god is also known as Hermes.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
MERCURY	57,910,00 km	4879 km

VENUS:

                                       

• Venus is considered as the second brightest object present in the sky: The planet has an apparent magnitude of -3.8 to -4.6 which makes it visible.

 

• Venus is also known as Earth’s Sister: Because the Venus size is almost similar to the Earth and It has around 81% of Earth Mass.

 

• Venus rotates in opposite direction to other planets: Other planets rotate counter-clockwise and Venus rotates clockwise direction.

 

• Billions of years ago, it was stated that Venus has an atmosphere similar to the Earth: But because of the greenhouse effect, the temperature of the Venus raised very high and becomes too high to resist life.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
VENUS	108,200,000km	12,104 km

 

EARTH:

                                  

• Earth has a very high magnetic field: The magnetic field protects the Earth from the strong solar winds.

 

• The first life exists on the planet Earth come from the oceans: The natural process in which life grows from the non-living matter called biopoiesis.

 

• Earth’s highest point is at Mount Everest: Reaches a height of 8.8 km.

 

• The rotation of the planet is slowing down: This will increase the length of our days from 24hours to 25 hours but it takes about 140 million years for this.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
EARTH	149,600,000 km	12,756 km

 

MARS:

                               

• Mars also posses seasons like Earth but they last as twice as long: This happens because Mars titled on the axis by 25.19 degrees.

 

• Mars is called RED PLANET: Because of the reddish dust scattered over the vast areas of its surface which is broken by craters, chasms, and huge volcanoes.

 

• Mars is the only planet after Earth which has polar ice caps: There may be water on Mars beside the ice-locked in polar ice caps.

 

•  Mars doesn’t have a magnetic field: But some scientists claim that it has a magnetic field billion years ago.

 

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
MARS	227,940,000 km	6,805 km

 

JUPITER:

                               

• Jupiter is so big: That if it were hollow 1300 Earth would fit inside.

 

• Jupiter spins so rapidly: It spins very rapidly about(every 10hour) that is bulges out at the equator.

 

• Jupiter has a faint ring of dust: Because its surface is covered by belts of swirling gas.

 

• Jupiter is barely a quarter as dense as Earth: As it is made up of mostly gases.

 

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
JUPITER	778,330,000 km	142,984 km

 

SATURN:

                               

• Saturn is the most spectacular of all the planets: Because of its broad, colored rings and banded surface.

• Saturn has 20 moons: The biggest of which, Titan is almost half as big as the Earth.

• Saturn is one of the five planets which can be seen from naked eyes: Because they are the brightest object in the solar system.

• Saturn has the fastest winds: The winds have been measured at a speed of approximately 1800 km per hour.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
SATURN	1,424,600,000 km	120,536 km

 URANUS:

                               

• Uranus is a giant gas planet: Because it is made largely of hydrogen and helium with an ice-coated rocky core.

• Uranus has 13 presently known rings: It is believed that the rings are quite young and matter inside these rings is the parts of the moon.

• Uranus is the coldest planet in the solar system: As its lowest temperature is about -224 degree C

• Uranus is also known as “ice giant”: The upper layer of the planet is made of helium and hydrogen and it also has an ice mantle that surrounds its rocky and iron core.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
URANUS	2,873,550,000 km	51,118 km

 

NEPTUNE:

                                     

• Neptune has the second-largest gravity of all of the planets: Neptune has the second-largest gravity after the Jupiter from all the planets.

• Neptune has the second storm: It is called Small Dark Spot which is equal to the size of the Earth’s Moon.

• Neptune spins very quickly: The planets equatorial clouds take 18 hours to complete one rotation.

• Neptune also posses ring system: They are mostly made up of ice particles and grains of dust.

NAME OF THE PLANET	DISTANCE FROM THE SUN	DIAMETER
NEPTUNE	4,501,000,000 km	49,528 km

I hope you liked all of these interesting facts about the planets of our solar system. I personally like Uranus because of its beauty, ring and color it posses.

Do tell me which one is your favourite planet out of 8 and the reason behind it in the comment section below.