Our solar system is a big happy family of planets, moon, sun, asteroids and comets in space. The shining sun, the glowing moon and our planet earth are all members of this big happy solar system family. The sunny bright sun is the center of this solar system that keeps all the eight planets and other objects together. Let’s go on a space exploration trip to learn some mysterious facts about our solar system.

What Is Solar System?
The Center of Our Solar System
Solar System Planets
Other Members of Our Solar System

What is Solar System

The word solar is derived from the Latin word sōlāris which means sun or related to sun. The solar system got its name from the fact that everything inside it revolves around the sun. It is the only star in our solar system. Our solar system and all other stars in the sky are part of the milky way galaxy and we are around 25,000 to 27,000 light-years away from its center. There are eight planets in our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Sarun, Uranus and Neptune. Each planet has its own moon with Saturn having the highest number of moons. Earth has only one moon that we can see in the sky during the night. Asteroids, comets, meteoroids and some icy objects orbiting after Neptune are part of our solar system too. The dwarf planets like Pluto, Ceres and Eris are also part of our solar system.

The Center of Our Solar System

The sun stays at the center of our solar system. It gives us light and heat and the light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach the earth. Everything in our solar system revolves around the sun. The strong gravitational pull of the sun keeps the planets moving in its orbit without crashing with each other. The sun also helps to sustain life on earth by maintaining its temperature. Earth is on third number in orbiting the sun on the list of the eight planets. Let’s explore each of these planets one by one in detail.

Solar System Planets

From nearest planet to farthest here are eight planets that revolve around the sun in our solar system.

Mercury: Slightly bigger than moon mercury is the first planet revolving around closest to the sun. It is the smallest planet in our solar system. Even though it is quite near to the sun it is not the hottest planet of our solar system.

Venus: Venus is the hottest planet of the solar system with many active volcanoes on its surface. The surface temperature and thick atmosphere of Venus is too dangerous for spaceships. Due to its size similar to earth Venus and Earth are also called the twin planets. It is also called the morning star or evening star as it ranks second brightest in sky after moon

Earth: Earth is the third planet from the sun with just one moon. It is our home and we see everything in the solar system from this planet. Earth has 70% water which makes it appear blue from space.

Mars: Mars is the fourth planet that revolves around the sun after earth. It is about half the size of the earth and is often called the red planet due to its red appearance. It is much colder than earth with polar ice caps. There is evidence of the water of mars in the past that makes this planet more interesting for us.

Jupiter: Jupiter is also believed to be the oldest planet formed around 4.5 billions years ago. It has the shortest day of all the planets, which is about 10 hours. It is the largest planet in the solar system with a very high gravity and lots of moons. Thousands of earth could fit in it. It is also known as the gas giant.

Saturn: Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun. It has 146 recognised moons. Its nickname is also ring planet as it has a ring around it made from debris.

Uranus: The seventh planet from the sun is Uranus. The hydrogen and helium present on it gives it a greenish bluish color.

Neptune: Neptuneisthe farthest planet from the sun. Its atmosphere has a lot of methane that makes it appear bright blue. One year on Neptune is equal to 165 years on earth due to its distance from the sun.

Other Members of Our Solar System

Moons: Just like earth other planets have moons that orbit around them. Saturn is the planet with the highest number of moons. They reflect the sunlight just as the moon glows at night.

Asteroids: Asteroids are the rocky space objects that orbit the sun mainly between Mars and Jupiter. They are the leftovers from the formation of our solar system.

Comets: A comet is a bright space rock that is made of dust and ice. They are too small to be seen from earth. We can only see them through a special telescope.

Dwarf Planets: Heavy space objects that don’t follow a fixed orbit and do not fulfill the criteria of a planet are called dwarf planets. One such dwarf planet is Pluto.

Our solar system along with all these space objects together and stars make the beautiful above us. Now every time you will look at the sunny bright sun during the day or the glowing moon at night, you will know you are looking at a tiny part of something very big and very special which is our solar system.