All planets of the solar system in order. Planets of the Solar System (photo and description)

PLANETS

In ancient times, people knew only five planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the only ones that can be seen with the naked eye.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were discovered using telescopes in 1781, 1846 and 1930. Long time Astronomers studied the planets by observing them from Earth. They determined that all the planets, except Pluto, move in circular orbits in the same plane and in the same direction, calculated the sizes of the planets and the distances from them to the Sun, formed their idea of ​​the structure of the planets, and even assumed that Venus and Mars could be similar Earth, and there may be life on them.

The launch of automatic space stations to the planets made it possible to significantly expand, and in many ways revise, ideas about the planets: it became possible to see photographs of the surface, explore the soil and atmosphere of the planets.

Mercury.

Mercury is a small planet, slightly larger than the Moon. Its surface is also dotted with craters from collisions with meteorites. No geological processes have erased these dents from his face. Mercury is cold inside. It moves around the Sun faster than other planets, but around its axis very slowly. Having circled the Sun twice, Mercury only has time to turn around its axis three times. Because of this, the temperature on the sunny side of the planet exceeds 300 degrees, and on the unlit side there is darkness and severe cold. Mercury has virtually no atmosphere.

Venus.

Exploring Venus is not easy. It is shrouded in a thick layer of clouds, and under this serene exterior lies a real hell, the pressure is a hundred times higher than on Earth, the temperature on the surface is about 500 degrees, which is caused by the “greenhouse effect”. The Soviet automatic station “Venera - 9” for the first time managed to transmit to Earth images of a surface filled with lava and covered with stones. In the conditions of Venus, the apparatus lowered to the surface of the planet quickly breaks down, so American scientists decided to obtain data on the planet’s topography in a different way.

The Magellan robotic station, having flown around Venus many times, probed the planet with radar, resulting in a comprehensive picture of the surface. In some places, the relief of Venus is similar to that of Earth, but mostly the landscapes are strange: high mountainous round areas surrounded by mountain ranges 250 - 300 km in diameter, the entire area of ​​which is occupied by volcanoes; other volcanic formations resemble cakes with steep edges and a flat top. The surface of the planet is cut by channels laid by lava. Traces of active volcanic activity are visible everywhere. Meteor craters on the surface of Venus are distributed evenly, which means that its surface took shape at the same time. Scientists cannot explain how this could happen; Venus seemed to boil and be flooded with lava. Now volcanic activity is not detected on the planet.

The atmosphere of Venus is not at all similar to that of Earth; it mainly consists of carbon dioxide. The thickness of the gas shell of Venus, compared to the earth's, is monstrously large. The cloud layer reaches 20 km. The presence of concentrated aqueous solution sulfuric acid. Sunlight does not reach the surface of Venus, twilight reigns there, sulfur rain falls, and the landscape is constantly illuminated by flashes of lightning. High in the planet's atmosphere, constant winds rage, driving clouds at tremendous speed; the upper layer of the Venusian atmosphere makes a complete revolution around the planet within four Earth days. The solid body of Venus, on the contrary, rotates around its axis very slowly and in a different direction than all the other planets. Venus has no satellites.

Mars.

In the 20th century, the planet Mars was chosen by science fiction writers; in their novels, the Martian civilization was incomparably higher than the earthly one. The mysterious, inaccessible Mars began to reveal its secrets when Soviet and American automatic spacecraft began to be sent to study it.

The Mariner 9 station, orbiting Mars, took photographs of all areas of the planet, which made it possible to create a detailed map of the surface relief. Researchers have discovered traces of active geological processes on the planet: huge volcanoes, the largest of them, Olympus Mons, 25 km high, and a huge fault in the Martian crust, called Valles Marineris, which crosses an eighth of the planet.

Gigantic structures grew in the same place for billions of years, unlike the Earth with its drifting continents, the surface of Mars did not move. The geological structures of the Earth, compared to those on Mars, are dwarfs. Are volcanoes active on Mars now? Scientists believe that geological activity on the planet is obviously a thing of the past.

Martian landscapes are dominated by reddish rocky deserts. Light transparent clouds float above them in the pink sky. The sky turns blue at sunset. The atmosphere of Mars is very thin. Every few years there are dust storms that cover almost the entire surface of the planet. A day on Mars lasts 24 hours 37 minutes, the inclination of the axis of rotation of Mars to the orbital plane is almost the same as that of the Earth, so the change of seasons on Mars is quite consistent with the change of seasons on Earth. The planet is poorly heated by the Sun, so its surface temperature even on a summer day does not exceed 0 degrees, and in winter time From the severe cold, frozen carbon dioxide settles on the stones, and the Polar caps are mainly made of it. No traces of life have yet been found.

From Earth, Mars is visible as a reddish star, which is probably why it bears the name of the god of war, Mars. His two companions were named Phobos and Deimos, which translated from ancient Greek means “fear” and “horror.” Satellites of Mars - space "rocks" irregular shape. Phobos measures 18km x 22km, and Deimos measures 10km x 16km.

The planets are giants.

In 1977, American scientists and engineers launched an automatic interplanetary station towards Jupiter as part of the Voyager program. Once every 175 years, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto are positioned in such a way relative to the Earth that a launched spacecraft can examine all these planets in one flight. Scientists have calculated that, under certain conditions, a spacecraft, approaching a planet, falls into a gravitational slingshot, and the planet itself sends the apparatus further to another planet. The calculations turned out to be correct. Earthlings were able to see these distant planets and their satellites through the “eyes” of space robots, unique information was transmitted to Earth.

Jupiter.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It does not have a solid surface and consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Due to the high speed of rotation around its axis, it is noticeably compressed at the poles. Jupiter has a huge magnetic field; if it became visible, it would look the size of the solar disk from Earth.

In the photographs, scientists were able to see only clouds in the planet’s atmosphere, which create stripes parallel to the equator. But they moved with great speed, bizarrely changing their shape. Numerous vortices, auroras and lightning flashes were recorded in the cloud cover of Jupiter. On the planet, wind speeds reach one hundred kilometers per hour. The most amazing formation in the atmosphere of Jupiter is a large red spot 3 times the size more than Earth. Astronomers have observed it since the 17th century. It is possible that this is the tip of a gigantic tornado. Jupiter releases more energy than it receives from the Sun. Scientists believe that in the center of the planet, gases are compressed to the state of a metallic liquid. This hot core is the power plant that generates winds and a monstrous magnetic field.

But the main surprises for scientists were not presented by Jupiter itself, but by its satellites.

Satellites of Jupiter.

There are 16 known satellites of Jupiter. The largest of them, Io, Europa, Callisto and Ganymede, were discovered by Galileo; they are visible even with strong binoculars. It was believed that the satellites of all planets are similar to the Moon - they are cold and lifeless. But Jupiter's moons surprised researchers.

And about- the size of the Moon, but this is the first celestial body other than Earth on which they were discovered active volcanoes. Io is completely covered in volcanoes. Its surface is washed by multi-colored lava flows, volcanoes emit sulfur. But what is the reason for the active volcanic activity of such a small cosmic body? Revolving around the huge Jupiter, Io either approaches it or moves away.

Under the influence of either increasing or decreasing gravitational force, Io either contracts or expands. Friction forces heated its inner layers to enormous temperatures. Io's volcanic activity is incredible, its surface changing before our eyes. Io moves in Jupiter's powerful magnetic field, so it accumulates a huge electrical charge, which is discharged onto Jupiter in the form of a continuous stream of lightning, causing storms on the planet.

Europe has a relatively smooth surface, virtually without relief. It is covered with a layer of ice, and it is likely that the ocean is hidden underneath it. Instead of molten rocks, water oozes from cracks here. This is a completely new type of geological activity.

Ganymede- the largest satellite in the solar system. Its size is almost the same as that of Mercury.

Callisto dark and cold, its surface, pockmarked with meteorite craters, has not changed for billions of years.

Saturn.

Saturn, like Jupiter, does not have a solid surface - it is a gas giant planet. It also consists of hydrogen and helium, but it is cooler, since it produces less heat itself and receives less of it from the Sun. But on Saturn the winds are faster than on Jupiter. Stripes, vortices and other formations are observed in the atmosphere of Saturn, but they are short-lived and irregular.

Naturally, scientists' attention was directed to the rings that surround the planet's equator. They were discovered by astronomers back in the 17th century, and since then scientists have been trying to understand what they are. Photos of the rings transmitted to earth by an automatic space station surprised researchers. They were able to identify several hundred rings nested inside one another, some intertwined with each other, dark stripes were found on the rings that appeared and disappeared, they were called knitting needles. Scientists were able to see the rings of Saturn from a fairly close distance, but they had more questions than answers.

In addition to the rings, 15 satellites move around Saturn. The largest of them is Titan, slightly smaller than Mercury. Titan's dense atmosphere is much thicker than Earth's and consists almost entirely of nitrogen; it did not allow us to see the surface of the satellite, but scientists suggest that internal structure Titan's structure is similar to that of the Earth. The temperature at its surface is below minus 200 degrees.

Uranus.

Uranus differs from all other planets in that its axis of rotation lies almost in the plane of its orbit, all planets look like a toy top, and Uranus rotates as if “lying on its side.” Voyager was able to “see” little in the atmosphere of Uranus; the planet turned out to be very monotonous in appearance. There are 5 satellites orbiting Uranus.

Neptune.

It took Voyager 12 years to get to Neptune. How surprised the scientists were when, on the outskirts of the solar system, they saw a planet very similar to Earth. It was a deep blue color, with white clouds moving in different directions in the atmosphere. The winds on Neptune blow much stronger than on other planets.

There is so little energy on Neptune that the wind, once it picks up, cannot stop. Scientists have discovered a system of rings around Neptune, but they are incomplete and represent arcs; there is no explanation for this yet. Neptune and Uranus are also giant planets, but not gas, but ice.

Neptune has 3 satellites. One of them is that Triton rotates in the direction opposite direction rotation of Neptune itself. Perhaps it did not form in Neptune's gravitational zone, but was pulled toward the planet when it came close to it and fell into its gravitational zone. Triton is the coldest body in the solar system, its surface temperature is slightly above absolute zero (minus 273 degrees). But nitrogen geysers were discovered on Triton, which indicates its geological activity.

Pluto

Now Pluto is officially no longer a planet. It should now be considered a "dwarf planet", one of three in the Solar System. Pluto's fate was determined in 2006 by a vote of members of the International Astronomical Society in Prague.

To avoid confusion and map clutter solar system, The International Astronomical Union has prescribed that sufficiently large celestial bodies that are not among the eight previously identified planets be classified as dwarf planets. In particular, new status received Pluto, Charon (former satellite of Pluto), the asteroid Ceres, orbiting between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, as well as the so-called Kuiper belt objects Xena (object UB313) and Sedna (object 90377).

It's hard to believe, but once upon a time Space was completely empty. There were no planets, no satellites, no stars. Where did they come from? How was the Solar System formed? These questions have troubled humanity for many centuries. This article will help give some idea of ​​what the Cosmos is and will open Interesting Facts about the planets of the solar system.

How it all began

The Universe is the entire visible and invisible Cosmos, along with all existing cosmic bodies. Several theories have been put forward for its appearance:

3. Divine intervention. Our Universe is so unique, everything in it is thought out to the smallest detail, that it could not arise by itself. Only the Great Creator can create such a miracle. Absolutely not scientific theory, but has a right to exist.

Disputes about the reasons for the true emergence of outer space continue. In fact, we have an idea of ​​the solar system, which includes a burning star and eight planets with their satellites, galaxies, stars, comets, black holes and much more.

Amazing discoveries or interesting facts about the planets of the solar system

Outer space beckons with its mystery. Each celestial body keeps its own mystery. Thanks to astronomical discoveries Valuable information about heavenly wanderers appears.

Closest to the sun is Mercury. There is an opinion that he was once a satellite of Venus. But as a result of a cosmic catastrophe, the cosmic body separated from Venus and acquired its own orbit. A year on Mercury lasts 88 days, and a day lasts 59 days.

Mercury is the only planet in the solar system on which it is possible to observe the movement of the Sun in reverse side. This phenomenon has a completely logical explanation. The speed of the planet's rotation around its axis is much slower than the movement in its orbit. Because of this difference in speed conditions, the effect of changing the movement of the Sun occurs.

On Mercury you can observe a fantastic phenomenon: two sunsets and sunrises. And if you move to the 0˚ and 180̊ meridians, you can witness three sunsets and sunrises per day.

Venus comes next after Mercury. It lights up in the sky during sunset on Earth, but can only be observed for a couple of hours. Because of this feature, she was nicknamed "Evening Star". It is interesting that the orbit of Venus lies inside the orbit of our planet. But it moves along it in the opposite direction, counterclockwise. A year on the planet lasts 225 days, and 1 day lasts 243 Earth days. Venus, like the Moon, has a change of phases, transforming either into a thin crescent or wide circle. There is an assumption that some types of terrestrial bacteria can live in the atmosphere of Venus.

Earth- truly the pearl of the solar system. Only on it there is a huge variety of life forms. People feel so comfortable on this planet and don’t even realize that it is rushing along its orbit at a speed of 108,000 km per hour.

The fourth planet from the Sun is Mars. He is accompanied by two companions. A day on this planet is equal in length to that of Earth – 24 hours. But 1 year lasts 668 days. Just like on Earth, the seasons change here. Seasons also cause changes in the appearance of the planet.

Jupiter- the largest space giant. It has many satellites (more than 60 pieces) and 5 rings. Its mass exceeds the Earth by 318 times. But, despite its impressive size, it moves quite quickly. It turns around its own axis in just 10 hours, but covers the distance around the Sun in 12 years.

The weather on Jupiter is bad - constant storms and hurricanes, accompanied by lightning. A striking representative of such weather conditions is the Great Red Spot - a vortex moving at a speed of 435 km/h.

Distinctive feature Saturn, definitely are his rings. These flat formations are made of dust and ice. The thickness of the circles ranges from 10 - 15 m to 1 km, width from 3,000 km to 300,000 km. The rings of the planet are not a single whole, but are formed in the form of thin spokes. The planet is also surrounded by more than 62 satellites.

Saturn has an incredibly high rotation rate, so much so that it is compressed at the poles. A day on the planet lasts 10 hours, a year lasts 30 years.

Uranus, like Venus, it moves around the star counterclockwise. The uniqueness of the planet lies in the fact that it “lies on its side”, its axis tilted at an angle of 98˚. There is a theory that the planet took this position after a collision with another space object.

Like Saturn, Uranus has a complex ring system consisting of a collection of inner and outer rings. Uranus has 13 of them in total. It is believed that the rings are the remains of a former satellite of Uranus that collided with the planet.

Uranus does not have a solid surface; a third of its radius, approximately 8,000 km, is a gas shell.

Neptune- the last planet of the solar system. It is surrounded by 6 dark rings. The most beautiful shade sea ​​wave The planet is given by methane, which is present in the atmosphere. Neptune completes one orbit in 164 years. But it moves quickly enough around its axis, and a day passes in
16 hours. In some places, Neptune's orbit intersects with Pluto's orbit.

Neptune has a large number of satellites. Basically, they all orbit in front of Neptune's orbit and are called internal. There are only two external satellites accompanying the planet.

You can observe it on Neptune. However, the flares are too weak and occur throughout the planet, and not exclusively at the poles, as on Earth.

Once upon a time there were 9 planets in outer space. This number included Pluto. But due to its small size, the astronomical community has classified it as a dwarf planet (asteroid).

Here are some interesting facts and amazing stories about the planets of the solar system are discovered in the process of exploring the black depths of space.

This is the planet closest to the Sun, so the Sun shines on Mercury and heats it 7 times more than on Earth. On the day side of Mercury it is terribly hot, there is eternal heat. Measurements show that the temperature there rises to 400 degrees above zero. But on the night side there should always be severe frost, which probably reaches 200 degrees below zero. So, Mercury is the kingdom of deserts. One half of it is a hot stone desert, the other half is an icy desert, perhaps covered with frozen gases. The composition of the extremely rarefied atmosphere of Mercury includes: Ar, Ne, He. Surface of Mercury appearance similar to the moon. When Mercury is far enough from the Sun it can be seen, low on the horizon. Mercury is never visible in a dark sky. It is best observed in the evening sky or before dawn. Mercury has no satellites. 80% of Mercury's mass is contained in its core, which is composed primarily of iron. The pressure at the surface of the planet is approximately 500 billion times less than at the surface of the Earth. It also turned out that Mercury has a weak magnetic field, the strength of which is only 0.7% of the Earth's. Mercury belongs to the planets terrestrial group. In Roman mythology - the god of trade.

Venus


The second planet from the Sun, has an almost circular orbit. It passes closer to Earth than any other planet. But the dense, cloudy atmosphere does not allow you to directly see its surface. Atmosphere: CO 2 (97%), N2 (approx. 3%), H 2 O (0.05%), impurities CO, SO 2, HCl, HF. Thanks to the greenhouse effect, the surface temperature heats up to hundreds of degrees. The atmosphere, which is a thick blanket of carbon dioxide, traps heat coming from the Sun. This results in the temperature of the atmosphere being much higher than in the oven. Radar images show a very wide variety of craters, volcanoes and mountains. There are several very large volcanoes, up to 3 km high. and hundreds of kilometers wide. The outpouring of lava on Venus takes much longer than on Earth. The pressure at the surface is about 107 Pa. The surface rocks of Venus are similar in composition to terrestrial sedimentary rocks.
Finding Venus in the sky is easier than any other planet. Its dense clouds reflect well sunlight, making the planet bright in our sky. For a few weeks every seven months, Venus is the brightest object in the western sky in the evenings. Three and a half months later, it rises three hours earlier than the Sun, becoming brilliant" morning star"in the eastern part of the sky. Venus can be observed an hour after sunset or an hour before sunrise. Venus has no satellites.

Earth .

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- the third planet from the Sun. The speed of the Earth's revolution in an elliptical orbit around the Sun is 29.765 km/s. Incline earth's axis to the ecliptic plane 66 o 33 "22". The Earth has a natural satellite - . The Earth has a magnetic and electric fields. The Earth was formed 4.7 billion years ago from gas and dust matter scattered in the protosolar system. The composition of the Earth is dominated by: iron (34.6%), oxygen (29.5%), silicon (15.2%), magnesium (12.7%). The pressure in the center of the planet is 3.6 * 10 11 Pa, the density is about 12,500 kg/m 3, the temperature is 5000-6000 o C. Most the surface is occupied by the World Ocean (361.1 million km 2; 70.8%); The land area is 149.1 million km 2 and forms six continents and islands. It rises above the level of the world's oceans by an average of 875 meters (the highest altitude is 8848 meters - the city of Chomolungma). Mountains occupy 30% of the land, deserts cover about 20% of the land surface, savannas and woodlands - about 20%, forests - about 30%, glaciers - 10%. The average depth of the ocean is about 3800 meters, the greatest is 11022 meters (Mariana Trench in Pacific Ocean), water volume is 1370 million km 3, average salinity is 35 g/l. The Earth's atmosphere, the total mass of which is 5.15 * 10 15 tons, consists of air - a mixture of mainly nitrogen (78.1%) and oxygen (21%), the rest is water vapor, carbon dioxide, noble and other gases. About 3-3.5 billion years ago, as a result of the natural evolution of matter, life arose on Earth and the development of the biosphere began.

Mars .

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the fourth planet from the Sun, similar to Earth, but smaller and cooler. Mars has deep canyons, giant volcanoes, and vast deserts. There are two small moons flying around the Red Planet, as Mars is also called: Phobos and Deimos. Mars is the next planet after the Earth, if you count from the Sun, and the only cosmic world besides the Moon that can already be reached with the help of modern rockets. For astronauts, this four-year journey could represent the next frontier in space exploration. Near the equator of Mars, in an area called Tharsis, there are volcanoes of colossal size. Tarsis is the name that astronomers gave to the hill, which has 400 km. wide and about 10 km. in height. There are four volcanoes on this plateau, each of which is simply gigantic compared to any terrestrial volcano. The largest volcano on Tharsis, Mount Olympus, rises 27 km above the surrounding area. About two-thirds of Mars' surface is mountainous, with many impact craters surrounded by rock debris. Near the volcanoes of Tharsis, a vast system of canyons snakes around the length of about a quarter of the equator. The Valles Marineris is 600 km wide, and its depth is such that Mount Everest would sink entirely to its bottom. Sheer cliffs rise thousands of meters, from the valley floor to the plateau above. In ancient times, there was a lot of water on Mars; large rivers flowed across the surface of this planet. There are ice caps at the South and North Poles of Mars. But this ice does not consist of water, but of frozen atmospheric carbon dioxide (freezes at a temperature of -100 o C). Scientists believe that surface water is stored in the form of ice blocks buried in the ground, especially in polar regions. Atmospheric composition: CO 2 (95%), N 2 (2.5%), Ar (1.5 - 2%), CO (0.06%), H 2 O (up to 0.1%); pressure at the surface is 5-7 hPa. In total, about 30 interplanetary space stations were sent to Mars.

Jupiter - the largest planet.

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- the fifth planet from the Sun, the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is not a rocky planet. Unlike the four rocky planets closest to the Sun, Jupiter is a gas ball. Atmospheric composition: H 2 (85%), CH 4, NH 3, He (14%). Jupiter's gas composition is very similar to the sun's. Jupiter is a powerful source of thermal radio emission. Jupiter has 16 satellites (Adrastea, Metis, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Lysithea, Elara, Ananke, Karme, Pasiphae, Sinope, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Leda, Himalia), as well as a ring 20,000 km wide, almost closely adjacent to planet. Jupiter's rotation speed is so high that the planet bulges along the equator. In addition, such rapid rotation causes very strong winds in the upper layers of the atmosphere, where the clouds stretch out into long colorful ribbons. There are a very large number of vortex spots in the clouds of Jupiter. The largest of them, the so-called Great Red Spot, is larger than the Earth. The Great Red Spot is a huge storm in Jupiter's atmosphere that has been observed for 300 years. Inside the planet, under enormous pressure, hydrogen turns from gas into liquid, and then from liquid into solid. At a depth of 100 km. there is a boundless ocean of liquid hydrogen. Below 17,000 km. hydrogen is compressed so tightly that its atoms are destroyed. And then it begins to behave like metal; in this state it easily conducts electricity. The electric current flowing in metallic hydrogen creates a strong magnetic field around Jupiter.

Saturn .

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The sixth planet from the Sun, has an amazing ring system. Due to its rapid rotation around its axis, Saturn seems to be flattened at the poles. Wind speeds at the equator reach 1800 km/h. The width of Saturn's rings is 400,000 km, but they are only a few tens of meters thick. The inner parts of the rings rotate around Saturn faster than the outer ones. The rings are mostly made up of billions fine particles, each of which orbits Saturn as a separate microscopic satellite. These "micro-satellites" are likely made of water ice or rocks covered in ice. Their size ranges from a few centimeters to tens of meters. There are also larger objects in the rings - stone blocks and fragments up to hundreds of meters in diameter. The gaps between the rings arise under the influence of the gravitational forces of seventeen moons (Hyperion, Mimas, Tethys, Titan, Enceladus, etc.), which cause the rings to split. The composition of the atmosphere includes: CH 4, H 2, He, NH 3.

Uranus .

- the seventh planet from the Sun. It was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel, and named after the Greek god of the sky, Uranus. The orientation of Uranus in space differs from the other planets of the solar system - its axis of rotation lies, as it were, “on its side” relative to the plane of revolution of this planet around the Sun. The axis of rotation is inclined at an angle of 98 o. As a result, the planet faces the Sun alternately with the north pole, the south, the equator, and the middle latitudes. Uranus has more than 27 satellites (Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Belinda, Peck, etc.) and a system of rings. At the center of Uranus is a core made of rock and iron. The composition of the atmosphere includes: H 2, He, CH 4 (14%).

Neptune .

- its orbit intersects with Pluto's orbit in some places. The equatorial diameter is the same as that of Uranus, although Neptune is located 1627 million km further from Uranus (Uranus is located 2869 million km from the Sun). Based on these data, we can conclude that this planet could not be noticed in the 17th century. One of the striking achievements of science, one of the evidence of the unlimited cognition of nature was the discovery of the planet Neptune through calculations - “at the tip of a pen.” Uranus, the planet next to Saturn, which for many centuries was considered the most distant planet, was discovered by W. Herschel in late XVIII V. Uranus is hardly visible to the naked eye. By the 40s of the XIX century. accurate observations have shown that Uranus deviates barely noticeably from the path it should follow, taking into account the disturbances from all the known planets. Thus, the theory of the movement of celestial bodies, so strict and accurate, was put to the test. Le Verrier (in France) and Adams (in England) suggested that if disturbances from the known planets do not explain the deviation in the movement of Uranus, it means that the attraction of an as yet unknown body acts on it. They almost simultaneously calculated where behind Uranus there should be an unknown body producing these deviations with its gravity. They calculated the orbit unknown planet, its mass and indicated the place in the sky where given time there must have been an unknown planet. This planet was found through a telescope at the place they indicated in 1846. It was named Neptune. Neptune is not visible to the naked eye. On this planet, winds blow at speeds of up to 2400 km/h, directed against the rotation of the planet. These are the strongest winds in the solar system.
Atmospheric composition: H 2, He, CH 4. Has 6 satellites (one of them is Triton).
Neptune is the god of the seas in Roman mythology.

The planets in the solar system, as can be seen from the descriptions, are all different from each other. Scientists also discover planets around other stars; they are called exoplanets.

Sources:
www.kosmos19.narod.ru
www.ggreen.chat.ru
http://ru.wikipedia.org

Names of the planets of the Solar System: where do they come from?

Humanity still knows nothing about the origin of the name of which planet? The answer will surprise you...

Most cosmic bodies in the Universe received their names in honor of ancient Roman and Greek deities. Modern names of planets in the solar system are also associated with ancient mythological characters. And only one planet is an exception to this list: its name has nothing to do with the ancient gods. What space object are we talking about? Let's figure it out.

Planets of the Solar System.

Science knows for sure about the existence of 8 planets in the solar system. Not long ago, scientists expanded this list with the discovery of a ninth planet, whose name has not yet been officially announced, so let’s leave it alone for now. Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, due to their location and gigantic size, are combined into a single, external group. Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury are classified as the terrestrial inner group.

The location of the planets.

Until 2006, Pluto was considered a planet in the solar system, but careful exploration of outer space has changed ideas about this object. It was classified as the largest cosmic body in the Kuiper belt. Pluto was given the status of a dwarf planet. Known to mankind since 1930, it owes its name to an Oxford schoolgirl, Venice Bernie. By voting by astronomers, the choice fell on the option of an eleven-year-old girl, who proposed naming the planet in honor of the Roman patron god underground kingdom and death.

Pluto and its moon Charon.

Its existence became known in the middle of the 19th century (1846), when the cosmic body was discovered through mathematical calculations by John Couch Adams and Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier. The name of the new planet in the solar system caused a discussion between astronomers: each of them wanted to perpetuate their name in the name of the object. To end the dispute, they proposed a compromise option - the name of the god of the seas from ancient Roman mythology.

Neptune: the name of a planet in the solar system.

Initially, the planet had several names. Discovered in 1781, they decided to christen it after the discoverer W. Herschel. The scientist himself wanted to honor the British ruler George III with a similar honor, but astronomers suggested continuing the tradition of his ancestors and, like the 5 the most ancient planets, to give a “divine” name to the cosmic body. The main contender turned out to be greek god sky Uranus.

Uranus.

The existence of a giant planet was known back in the pre-Christian era. When choosing a name, the Romans decided to settle on the God of Agriculture.

Giant planet Saturn.

The name of the Roman supreme god is embodied in the name of the planet in the solar system - the largest of them. Like Saturn, Jupiter was known for a very long time, because it was not difficult to see the giant in the sky.

Jupiter.

The reddish tint of the planet’s surface is associated with bloodshed, which is why the Roman god of war gave the name to the space object.

"Red Planet" Mars.

Almost nothing is known about the name of our home planet. We can certainly say that its name has nothing to do with mythology. First mention modern name planet was recorded in 1400. It is associated with the Anglo-Saxon term for soil or ground - “Earth”. But there is no information about who called the Earth “earth”.

Previously, a planet was any cosmic body that orbits a star, emits light that is reflected by that star, and is larger than an asteroid. Also in Ancient Greece they talked about 7 planets as luminous bodies that move across the sky against the background of stars. These are Mercury, Sun, Venus, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn. Please note that the Sun is indicated here, which is a star, and the Moon is a satellite of our Earth. The earth is not included in this list because the Greeks considered it the center of everything.

In the 15th century, Copernicus discovered that the center of the system was the Sun, not the Earth. He laid out his statements in his work “On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres.” The Moon and Sun were removed from the list, and planet Earth was included. When telescopes were invented, three more planets were discovered. Uranus in 1781, Neptune in 1846, Pluto in 1930, which, by the way, is no longer considered a planet.

On this moment researchers give a new meaning to the word “planet”, namely: it is a celestial body that satisfies 4 conditions:

• The body must rotate around the star.
• Have a spherical or approximately spherical shape, that is, the body must have sufficient gravity.
• It doesn't have to be a star.
• The celestial body should not have other large bodies near its orbit.

A star is a body that emits light and has a powerful source of energy.

Planets in the Solar System

The solar system includes the planets and other objects that orbit the sun. 4.5 billion years ago, condensations of clouds of stellar matter began to form in the Galaxy. The gases heated up and radiated heat. As a result of an increase in temperature and density, nuclear reactions began, hydrogen turned into helium. This is how the most powerful source of energy arose - the Sun. This process took tens of millions of years. Planets with satellites were created. The formation of the solar system ended completely about 4 billion years ago.

Today, the solar system includes 8 planets, which are divided into two groups. The first is the terrestrial group, the second is the gas giants. The terrestrial planets - Venus, Mercury, Mars and Earth - are composed of silicates and metals. The gas giants - Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus - are composed of hydrogen and helium. The planets have different sizes, both in comparison between the two groups and among themselves. Accordingly, the giants are much larger and more massive than the terrestrial planets.

Mercury is closest to the Sun, followed by Neptune. Before characterizing the planets of the Solar System, we need to talk about its main object - the Sun. This is the star through which all living and nonliving things in the system began to exist. The sun is a spherical, plasma, hot ball. A large number of space objects revolve around it - satellites, planets, meteorites, asteroids and cosmic dust. This star appeared about 5 billion years ago. Its mass is 300 thousand times greater than the mass of our planet. The core temperature is 13 million degrees Kelvin, and at the surface - 5 thousand degrees Kelvin (4727 degrees Celsius). In the galaxy milky way The sun is one of the largest and bright stars. The distance from the Sun to the center of the Galaxy is 26,000 light years. The Sun makes a complete revolution around the galactic center every 230-250 million years.

Mercury

It is located closest to the Sun and is smallest planet Solar system. The planet has no satellites. There are many craters on the surface of Mercury, which were formed by many meteorites that fell on the planet more than 3 billion years ago. Their diameter is varied - from a couple of meters to 1000 kilometers. The planet's atmosphere is composed mainly of helium and is blown by wind from the Sun. Temperatures can reach +440 degrees Celsius. The planet completes a revolution around the Sun in 88 Earth days. A day on the planet is equal to 176 Earth hours.

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Its dimensions are close to the size of the Earth. The planet has no satellites. The atmosphere consists of carbon dioxide with admixtures of nitrogen and oxygen. The air pressure is 90 atmospheres, which is 35 times more than on Earth. Venus is called the hottest planet because its dense atmosphere, carbon dioxide, proximity to the Sun and the greenhouse effect create very high temperatures on the planet's surface. It can reach 460 degrees Celsius. Venus can be seen from the surface of the Earth. This is the brightest cosmic object after the Moon and the Sun.

Earth

The only planet suitable for life. Maybe it exists on other planets, but no one can say this with certainty yet. It is the largest in its group in terms of mass, density and size. Its age is more than 4 billion years. Life began here more than 3 billion years ago. Earth's satellite is the Moon. The atmosphere on the planet is radically different from others. Most of it consists of nitrogen. This also includes carbon dioxide, oxygen, water vapor and argon. The ozone layer and magnetic field make the level of solar and cosmic radiation less. Due to the content of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, a greenhouse effect is formed on the planet. Without it, the temperature on the Earth's surface would be 40 degrees lower. Islands and continents occupy 29% of the planet's surface, and the rest is the World Ocean.

Mars

It is also called the “red planet” due to the presence of large amounts of iron oxide in the soil. Mars is the seventh largest planet in the solar system. Two satellites fly near the planet - Deimos and Phobos. Due to the too thin atmosphere and the far distance from the Sun, the average annual temperature of the planet is minus 60 degrees. At some points during the day, temperature changes can reach 40 degrees. The presence of volcanoes and craters, deserts and valleys, and polar ice caps distinguishes Mars from other planets in the solar system. Also here is the most high mountain- the extinct Olympus volcano, which reached a height of 27 kilometers. Valles Marineris is the largest canyon among the planets. Its length is 4500 km and its depth is 11 m.

Jupiter

It is the largest planet in the solar system. Jupiter is 318 times heavier than Earth and 2.5 times more massive than other planets. The main components of the planet are helium and hydrogen. Jupiter emits a lot of heat - 4 * 1017 W. To become a star like the Sun, it must reach 70 times its current mass. The planet has the largest number of satellites - 63. Europa, Callisto, Ganymede and Io are the largest of them. Ganymede is also the largest moon in the entire solar system and is even larger than Mercury. Jupiter's atmosphere hosts many vortices that have a brownish-red colored band of clouds, or a giant storm, known as the Great Red Spot since the 17th century.

Saturn

Like Jupiter, it is a large planet that follows Jupiter in size. The ring system, which consists of particles of ice of various sizes, rocks and dust, distinguishes this planet from others. It has one fewer satellites than Jupiter. The largest are Enceladus and Titan. In composition, Saturn resembles Jupiter, but in density it is inferior to the simplest water. The atmosphere looks quite homogeneous and calm, which can be explained by a dense layer of fog. Saturn has enormous wind speeds, it can reach 1800 km per hour.

Uranus

This planet was discovered first using a telescope. Uranus is the only planet in the solar system that lies on its side and orbits the sun. Uranus has 27 moons, which are named after characters in Shakespeare's plays. The largest among them are Titania, Oberon and Umbriel. Uranus contains a large number of high-temperature modifications of ice. It is also the coldest planet. The temperature here is minus 224 degrees Celsius.

Neptune

It is the farthest planet from the Sun, although until 2006 this title belonged to Pluto. This planet was discovered without the help of a telescope, but by mathematical calculations. The existence of Neptune was suggested to scientists by Uranus, on which strange changes were discovered while moving in its own orbit. The planet has 13 satellites. The largest among them is Triton. Its peculiarity is that it moves opposite to the planet. Most blow in the same direction strong winds Solar system, the speed of which reaches 2200 km per hour. Neptune and Uranus have similar compositions, but it is also similar in composition to Jupiter and Saturn. The planet has an internal heat source, from which it receives 2.5 times more energy than from the Sun. There is methane in the outer layers of the atmosphere, which gives the planet a blue tint.

That's how mysterious the world of Space is. Many satellites and planets have their own characteristics. Scientists are making changes to this world, for example, they excluded Pluto from the list of planets.

Study the planets on the portal website - it’s very interesting.

Rotation of planets

All planets, in addition to their orbit, also rotate around their own axis. The period during which they make a full revolution is defined as an epoch. Large quantity planets in the solar system rotate in the same direction around the axis as around the sun, but Uranus and Venus rotate in the opposite direction. Scientists are watching big difference in the length of a day on the planets - Venus requires 243 Earth days to complete one rotation around its axis, while the gas giant planets need only a couple of hours. The rotation period of exoplanets is unknown, but their close proximity to the stars means that eternal day reigns on one side, and eternal night on the other.

Why are all the planets so different? Due to the high temperature closer to the star, the ice and gas evaporated very quickly. The giant planets failed to form, but an accumulation of metal particles occurred. Thus, Mercury was formed, which contains the largest amount of metals. The further we are from the center, the lower the temperature. Celestial bodies appeared, where a significant percentage was made up of rocks. The four planets that are located closer to the center of the solar system are called the inner ones. With the discovery of new systems, more and more questions arise. New research will help answer them.

Scientists claim that our system is unique. All planets are built in in strict order. The largest one is closer to the Sun, respectively, the smallest one is further away. Our system has a more complex structure, because the planets are not arranged according to their mass. The sun makes up more than 99 percent of all objects in the system.