Universe at a glance ......
Sun
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The Sun is a star that is in the center of the Solar
System
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The Sun is recognized as having the largest mass in
our Solar System.
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It has a diameter of about 1,392,684 km, about 109
times that of Earth
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The sun is the closest star to Earth, at a mean
distance from our planet of 149.60 million km
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Sun fuses 620 million metric tons of hydrogen each
second.
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At the core, the temperature is about 27 million
degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius)
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In February 1974, Skylab was the first manned
spacecraft to study the Sun.
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Solar flares occur when magnetic fields of the Sun
come together and cause huge
explosions on the Sun’s surface.
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Solar flares produce bursts of electromagnetic
radiation, x-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, and
radio waves.
Mercury
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Mercury is the closest and second smallest in the
Solar System.
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Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth.
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The only visit to Mercury was a flyby made by the
Mariner 10 spacecraft in 1974.
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Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 days,
traveling through space at nearly 50 km (31 miles) per
second
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Galileo first observed Mercury during the 17th
century.
Venus
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Venus is the second closest and sixth largest planet
in the Solar System
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The orbital speed of Venus is 35 km per second.
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Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System.
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Venus appears to be the brightest planet in the sky.
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It takes 244.7 days for Venus to rotate on its axis.
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The first robotic space probe mission to Venus, and
the first to any planet, began on 12 February 1961, with the
launch of the Venera 1 probe.
Earth
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Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago,
and life appeared on its surface within one billion years.
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The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.
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Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar
System.
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The Diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 miles)
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The earth’s orbital speed is 29.8 km per second.
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Earth
atmosphere consists of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent
oxygen and 1 percent other ingredients..
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Earth rotates about its own axis 366.26 times,
creating 365.26 solar days
Moon
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The Moon is Earth’s lone natural satellite.
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In 1610, Galileo Galilei is the first to use a
telescope to make scientific observations of the Moon.
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The Moon is the fifth largest satellite in our Solar
System.
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The Moon’s diameter is 2160 miles (3476 km)
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Average distance between the Earth and the Moon is
about 239,000 miles. Actual distance varies from 221,457 to
252,712 miles.
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The Moon’s gravity is 1/6 that of Earth.
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The Moon does not have an atmosphere; there is no
wind on the Moon.
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Apollo 11 was the American space mission to first
reach and land on the moon.
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The first human landing on the Moon was on 20 July
1969.
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The Moon orbits around the Earth every 29 days.
Mars
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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second
smallest planet in the Solar System.
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iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a
reddish appearance, often described as “ Red Planet”
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A Mars year is equal to 686.98 Earth Days
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A day in Mars is equal to 24.6 Earth Hours
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Like Earth, Mars experiences seasons because of the
tilt of its rotational axis
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Asaph Hall discovered both of Mars’ moons, Phobos and
Deimos, in August 1877.
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Mariner 4 – first successful flyby mission to Mars.
Launched on November 28, 1964 and arrived at Mars on July
14, 1965.
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Viking 1 – Successful orbit and landing on surface of
Mars. Launched August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars July 20,
1976.
Jupitar
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Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is
318 times larger than Earth.
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The orbital speed of Jupiter is 13.1 km/sec
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A year on Jupiter is equal to 11.9 Earth Years
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Jupiter has 67 natural satellites.[105] Of these, 51
are less than 10 kilometres in diameter and have only been
discovered since 1975.
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Galileo Galilei
had discovered Jupiter's four largest moons, now
called Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These four moons
are known today as the Galilean satellites.
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In 1610, Galileo Galilei makes the first detailed
observations of Jupiter.
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Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the biggest satellite in
solar system
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Jupiter has rings, the third planet discovered to
have a ring system in our Solar System.
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Jupiter’s rings are identified as: Halo ring, Main
ring, Amalthea gossamer ring, and Thebe gossamer ring.
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Jupiter’s rings were discovered by Voyager 1 in 1979.
Saturn
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Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the
second largest.
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Saturn has 62 known moons, fifty-three have been
named. Most of them are small in size.
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Names of some of Saturn’s moons: the largest is
Titan, discovered in 1655; Tethys, Dione, Rhea, & Iapetus,
discovered from 1671 to 1672; Mimas & Enceladus, discovered
in 1789; and Hyperion, discovered in 1848.
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A year on Saturn is equal to 29.5 Earth Years
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Pioneer 11 is the first spacecraft to reach Saturn,
in 1979
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Saturn has a prominent ring system that consists of
nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs,
composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of
rocky debris and dust.
Uranus
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The orbital speed of Uranus is 6.6 km/sec
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Uranus takes 84 Earth years to complete one orbit.
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Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar
System.
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Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to visit Uranus,
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A day on Uranus is equal to a little more than 17
hours on Earth.
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Uranus has 27 known moons, named for characters from
the works of William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope
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Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781
Neptune
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Neptune is the fourth largest planet and coolest
planet in the Solar System.
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Neptune was the first planet located through
mathematical predictions rather than through regular
observations of the sky.
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Neptune was discovered by Urbain Le Verrier, John
Couch Adams, and Johann Galle on September 23, 1846.
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The only spacecraft ever to visit Neptune was Voyager
2 in 1989.
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The magnetic field of Neptune is about 27 times more
powerful than that of Earth.
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One Neptune year is equal to 164.83 Earth Years
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Neptune has six known rings.
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In 2011, Neptune completes its first 165-year orbit
of the sun since its discovery in 1846.
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Neptune has 13 moons, the largest of which is named
Triton. The other moons are: Naiad, Thalassa, Despina,
Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Nereid, Halimede, Sao, Laomedeia,
Neso, and Psamathe.
Pluto
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Pluto is the smallest planet in the Solar System, now
consider as dwarf planet
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Pluto is colder than Neptune.
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Pluto’s journey around the Sun takes 248 Earth years.
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Pluto is the second most contrast body in the Solar
System
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Pluto has not yet been visited by a spacecraft.
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Pluto has a satellite, Charon, which was discovered
(in 1978). The distance between them is 19,640 km (12,200
miles).The other 3 are Nix, Hydra, and newly discovered
S/2011 P 1 on July of 2011.
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Pluto rotation (a Pluto day) takes 6.4 Earth days,
meaning that it has the second slowest rotation in the Solar
System after Venus
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Pluto was discovered by Tombaugh in 1930
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