Message about the major planets of the solar system. Planets of the Solar System in order

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. Even in Ancient Greece, they talked about 7 planets as luminous bodies that move across the sky against the backdrop 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.

At the moment, researchers are giving 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 Milky Way galaxy, the Sun is one of the largest and brightest 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 closest to the Sun and is the smallest planet in the 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 highest 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. The strongest winds in the solar system blow in the same direction, 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. Most of the planets in the Solar System rotate in the same direction on the axis as the Sun, but Uranus and Venus rotate in the opposite direction. Scientists observe a big difference in the length of the day on the planets - Venus takes 243 Earth days to complete one revolution 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 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.

The solar system is a planetary system that includes the central star - the Sun - and all the natural objects of space revolving around it. It was formed by gravitational compression of a gas and dust cloud approximately 4.57 billion years ago. We will find out which planets are part of the solar system, how they are located in relation to the Sun and their brief characteristics.

Brief information about the planets of the solar system

The number of planets in the Solar System is 8, and they are classified in order of distance from the Sun:

• Inner planets or terrestrial planets- Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. They consist mainly of silicates and metals
• Outer planets– Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the so-called gas giants. They are much more massive than the terrestrial planets. The largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, consist mainly of hydrogen and helium; The smaller gas giants, Uranus and Neptune, contain methane and carbon monoxide in their atmospheres, in addition to hydrogen and helium.

Rice. 1. Planets of the Solar System.

The list of planets in the Solar System, in order from the Sun, looks like this: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. By listing the planets from largest to smallest, this order changes. The largest planet is Jupiter, followed by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars and finally Mercury.

All planets orbit the Sun in the same direction as the Sun's rotation (counterclockwise when viewed from the Sun's north pole).

Mercury has the highest angular velocity - it manages to complete a full revolution around the Sun in just 88 Earth days. And for the most distant planet - Neptune - the orbital period is 165 Earth years.

Most of the planets rotate around their axis in the same direction as they revolve around the Sun. The exceptions are Venus and Uranus, with Uranus rotating almost “lying on its side” (axis tilt is about 90 degrees).

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Table. The sequence of planets in the solar system and their features.

Terrestrial planets (inner planets)

The four planets closest to the Sun consist predominantly of heavy elements, have a small number of satellites, and have no rings. They are largely composed of refractory minerals such as silicates, which form their mantle and crust, and metals, such as iron and nickel, which form their core. Three of these planets—Venus, Earth, and Mars—have atmospheres.

• Mercury- is the closest planet to the Sun and the smallest planet in the system. The planet has no satellites.
• Venus- is close in size to the Earth and, like the Earth, has a thick silicate shell around an iron core and an atmosphere (because of this, Venus is often called the “sister” of the Earth). However, the amount of water on Venus is much less than on Earth, and its atmosphere is 90 times denser. Venus has no satellites.

Venus is the hottest planet in our system, its surface temperature exceeds 400 degrees Celsius. The most likely reason for such high temperatures is the greenhouse effect, which occurs due to a dense atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide.

Rice. 2. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system

• Earth- is the largest and most dense of the terrestrial planets. The question of whether life exists anywhere other than Earth remains open. Among the terrestrial planets, the Earth is unique (primarily due to its hydrosphere). The Earth's atmosphere is radically different from the atmospheres of other planets - it contains free oxygen. The Earth has one natural satellite - the Moon, the only large satellite of the terrestrial planets of the Solar System.
• Mars– smaller than Earth and Venus. It has an atmosphere consisting mainly of carbon dioxide. There are volcanoes on its surface, the largest of which, Olympus, exceeds the size of all terrestrial volcanoes, reaching a height of 21.2 km.

Outer Solar System

The outer region of the Solar System is home to gas giants and their satellites.

• Jupiter- has a mass 318 times that of Earth, and 2.5 times more massive than all other planets combined. It consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter has 67 moons.
• Saturn- Known for its extensive ring system, it is the least dense planet in the solar system (its average density is less than that of water). Saturn has 62 satellites.

Rice. 3. Planet Saturn.

• Uranus- the seventh planet from the Sun is the lightest of the giant planets. What makes it unique among other planets is that it rotates “lying on its side”: the inclination of its rotation axis to the ecliptic plane is approximately 98 degrees. Uranus has 27 moons.
• Neptune- the last planet in the solar system. Although slightly smaller than Uranus, it is more massive and therefore denser. Neptune has 14 known moons.

What have we learned?

One of the interesting topics in astronomy is the structure of the solar system. We learned what names the planets of the solar system are, in what sequence they are located in relation to the Sun, what are their distinctive features and brief characteristics. This information is so interesting and educational that it will be useful even for 4th grade children.

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Theories on how it arose , a great many. The first of these was the famous theory put forward by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1755. He believed that the emergence solar system originated from some primary matter, before which it was freely dispersed in space.

One of the subsequent cosmogonic theories is the theory of “catastrophes”. According to it, our planet Earth was formed after some kind of external intervention, for example, a meeting of the Sun with some other star, this meeting could cause the eruption of a certain part of the solar substance. Due to incandescence, gaseous matter quickly cooled and became denser, while forming many small solid particles, their accumulations were a kind of embryos of planets.

Planets of the solar system

The central body in our system is the Sun. It belongs to the class of yellow dwarf stars. The Sun is the most massive object in our planetary system. The closest star to Earth, as well as the main body in our planetary system. In our system, the planets are more or less ordinary. No, for example, almost no reflection of light. Images of planets are often used in interior signs.

The very first planet from the Sun in our solar system is Mercury - it is also the smallest planet in the terrestrial group (in addition to Earth and Mercury, it includes Mars and Venus).

Next, second in line, comes Venus. Next comes the Earth - the shelter of all humanity. Our planet has a satellite - the Moon, which is almost 80 times lighter than the Earth. The Moon is the only satellite of the Earth orbiting the Earth. After the Sun, it is the brightest object in the sky. The fourth planet is Mars - this desert planet has two satellites. Next comes a large group of planets - the so-called giant planets.

The sun and other planets played a big role in different. There were many religions that worshiped the Sun. And astrology, which studies the effect of planets on humans, still influences many people. Astrology used to be considered a science, but nowadays many people consider it a science.

The largest and most massive of all the giants is Jupiter, which represents our solar system in miniature. Jupiter has more than 40 satellites, the largest of which are Ganymede, Io, Europa, and Callisto. These satellites have another name - Galilean, in honor of the man who discovered them - Galileo Galilei.

Next comes the giant planet Uranus - it is unusual in that it has a “lying on its side” position - which is why there is a rather sharp change in seasons on Uranus. It has 21 satellites and a distinctive feature in the form of rotation in the opposite direction.

The last giant planet is Neptune (Neptune’s largest satellite is Triton). All giant planets have a distinctive feature in the form of many satellites, as well as a system of rings.

But the farthest and last planet in the solar system is Pluto, which is also the smallest planet in our system. Pluto has one satellite, Charon, which is slightly smaller than the planet itself.

Until recently, astronomers believed that the concept of a planet applied exclusively to the solar system. Everything that is beyond its boundaries are unexplored cosmic bodies, most often stars of very large scale. But, as it turned out later, the planets, like peas, are scattered throughout the Universe. They vary in their geological and chemical composition, and may or may not have an atmosphere, all depending on their interaction with the nearest star. The arrangement of planets in our solar system is unique. It is this factor that is fundamental for the conditions that have formed on each individual space object.

Our space home and its features

In the center of the solar system there is a star of the same name, which is classified as a yellow dwarf. Its magnetic field is enough to hold nine planets of varying sizes around their axis. Among them there are dwarf rocky cosmic bodies, immense gas giants that reach almost the parameters of the star itself, and “middle” class objects, which include the Earth. The arrangement of the planets of the solar system does not occur in ascending or descending order. We can say that relative to the parameters of each individual astronomical body, their location is chaotic, that is, the large alternates with the small.

SS structure

To consider the location of the planets in our system, it is necessary to take the Sun as a reference point. This star is located in the center of the SS, and it is its magnetic fields that correct the orbits and movements of all surrounding cosmic bodies. There are nine planets orbiting the Sun, as well as a ring of asteroids that lies between Mars and Jupiter, and the Kuiper Belt, which lies beyond Pluto. In these gaps, individual dwarf planets are also distinguished, which are sometimes attributed to the main units of the system. Other astronomers believe that all these objects are nothing more than large asteroids, on which life cannot arise under any circumstances. They also assign Pluto itself to this category, leaving only 8 planetary units in our system.

The order of the planets

So, we will list all the planets, starting with the one closest to the Sun. In first place are Mercury, Venus, then Earth and Mars. After the Red Planet there passes a ring of asteroids, behind which begins a parade of giants consisting of gases. These are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The list is completed by dwarf and icy Pluto, with its equally cold and black satellite Charon. As we said above, there are several more dwarf space units in the system. The location of dwarf planets in this category coincides with the Kuiper belts and asteroids. Ceres is located in an asteroid ring. Makemake, Haumea and Eris are in the Kuiper Belt.

Terrestrial planets

This category includes cosmic bodies that, in their composition and parameters, have much in common with our home planet. Their depths are also filled with metals and stone, and either a full atmosphere or a haze that resembles it is formed around the surface. The location of the terrestrial planets is easy to remember, because these are the first four objects that are located directly next to the Sun - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Characteristic features are small size, as well as a long period of rotation around its axis. Also, of all the terrestrial planets, only the Earth itself and Mars have satellites.

Giants consisting of gases and hot metals

The location of the planets of the solar system, which are called gas giants, is the most distant from the main star. They are located behind the asteroid ring and stretch almost to the Kuiper belt. There are four giants in total - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Each of these planets consists of hydrogen and helium, and in the core region there are metals that are hot to a liquid state. All four giants are characterized by an incredibly strong gravitational field. Due to this, they attract numerous satellites, which form almost entire asteroid systems around them. SS gas balls rotate very quickly, which is why whirlwinds and hurricanes often occur on them. But, despite all these similarities, it is worth remembering that each of the giants is unique in its composition, size, and gravitational force.

Dwarf planets

Since we have already looked in detail at the location of the planets from the Sun, we know that Pluto is the furthest away and its orbit is the most gigantic in the SS. It is he who is the most important representative of dwarfs, and only he from this group is the most studied. Dwarfs are those cosmic bodies that are too small for planets, but too large for asteroids. Their structure may be comparable to Mars or Earth, or it may simply be rocky, like any asteroid. Above we have listed the most prominent representatives of this group - these are Ceres, Eris, Makemake, Haumea. In fact, dwarfs are found not only in the two SS asteroid belts. They are often called the satellites of gas giants, which are attracted to them due to the enormous