The Earth on which we live is a small part of the solar system. The Sun, its planets, and the things that revolve around them are collectively called the solar system. Our solar system consists of the Sun and the eight planets that orbit it. The Sun is a star, and there are 8 planets in the solar system. Their names are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. A few years ago, Pluto was also considered a planet, but in 2006 scientists reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet because it does not meet all the criteria required to be classified as a planet. So, Pluto was classified as a dwarf planet. Let us learn about these planets today.
Mercury
Mercury is the closest to the Sun among these planets. So, it completes one revolution around the Sun in the shortest time, which is 88 days.
Venus
Venus is the brightest planet as seen from Earth and the hottest planet in the solar system. It completes one revolution around the Sun in 225 days. Its size and mass are approximately similar to those of Earth.
Earth
More than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, so it is also called the water planet. Of the sunlight that reaches Earth, it reflects about one-third of it. The atmosphere of Earth scatters sunlight, especially blue light, which contributes to its blue appearance. For this reason, Earth is also called the ‘blue planet.’ Earth rotates on its axis, which causes day and night. It takes about 24 hours to do this. Earth takes about 365 days to complete one revolution around the Sun.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system. Its surface appears red when seen from Earth, due to which it is also called the ‘red planet.’ Mars is much smaller than Earth. Its surface area is about 28 percent of Earth’s surface area. Mars is not full of life like Earth, and so far, scientists have found no confirmed evidence of life on Mars.
Jupiter
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. There are many storms in its atmosphere. Due to the formation of different types of storms and clouds, this planet appears very colorful.
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet. It is the second largest planet in the solar system and has the lowest average density of all the planets. It takes about 29.5 Earth years to revolve around the Sun. The rings visible around this planet are made mainly of ice particles, along with rocky material and dust.
Uranus
Uranus is a planet that rotates on its axis from east to west. It is a very cold planet. It is very far from the Sun. This planet is about four times wider than Earth and looks very beautiful because of its light blue color. Its gravity is less than Earth’s. Therefore, if our weight on Earth were 32 kilograms, there it would be about 28 kilograms. Uranus takes about 84 years to complete one revolution around the Sun.
Neptune
Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun. It has one of the coldest planetary atmospheres in the solar system. Neptune appears bright blue in color. It has 14 known moons that orbit it.
