It is difficult to imagine the size of the universe. Our own solar system seems too large, stretching over 4 trillion miles from the sun. But it is just one of the billions of other stars that make up our Milky Way galaxy.
General characteristics of the planets of the solar system
The usual picture of the solar system is as follows: 9 planets rotate in their oval orbits around a constant, always blazing Sun.
But the characteristic of the planets of the solar system is much more complex and interesting. In addition to themselves, there are many of their satellites, as well as thousands of asteroids. Far beyond the orbit of Pluto, which was recognized as a dwarf planet, there are tens of thousands of comets and other frozen worlds. Attached by gravity to the Sun, they revolve around it at great distances. The solar system is chaotic, constantly changing, sometimes even dramatically. Gravitational forces force neighboring planets to influence each other, changing their orbits over time. Hard collisions with asteroids can give planets new angles of inclination. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are interesting in that they sometimes change climatic conditions, because their atmospheres evolve and mutate.
A star named the sun
It is sad to realize this, but the Sun is gradually consuming its stock of nuclear fuel. In billions of years, it will expand to the size of a giant red star, absorb the planets Mercury and Venus, on Earth, the temperature will rise to such levels that the oceans evaporate into space, and the Earth will become a dry rocky world, similar to today's Mercury. Having exhausted the entire stock of nuclear fusion, the Sun will shrink to the size of a white dwarf, and in millions of years, already as a burnt shell, it will turn into a black dwarf. But 5 billion years ago the sun and its 9 planets did not exist yet. There are many different versions of the appearance in the clouds of cosmic gas and dust of the Sun as a protostar and its system, but as a result of billions of years of nuclear fusion, modern man observes it as it is now.
Together with the Earth and other planets, a star named the Sun was born about 4.6 billion years ago from a huge cloud of dust that rotated in space. Our star is a ball of burning gases, if the Sun could be weighed, the scales would show 1990,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of a substance consisting of helium and hydrogen.
Gravity
Gravity, according to scientists, is the most mysterious mystery in the universe. This attraction of one matter to another and what gives the planets the shape of a ball. The gravity of the Sun is powerful enough to hold 9 planets, a dozen satellites and thousands of asteroids and comets. All this is held around the Sun by invisible strands of gravity. But with increasing distance between space objects, the attraction between them quickly weakens. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are directly dependent on gravity. For example, the attraction of Pluto to the Sun is much less than the force of attraction between the Sun and Mercury or Venus. The Sun and the Earth mutually attract each other, but due to the fact that the mass of the Sun is much larger, the attraction from it is more powerful. The comparative characteristics of the planets of the solar system will help to understand the main features of each of the planets.
The sun's rays travel in different directions in outer space, reaching all nine planets that revolve around the sun. But depending on how far the planet is, a different amount of light comes to it, hence the different characteristics of the planets of the solar system.
Mercury
On Mercury, the planet closest to the Sun, the Sun seems 3 times larger compared to the Earth's Sun. In the afternoon, the surface of Mercury can be dazzlingly bright. But the sky is dark even during the day, because there is no atmosphere on HIM to repel and scatter sunlight. When the Sun hits the stone landscape of Mercury, the temperature can reach up to 430 C. But nevertheless, at night all the heat returns freely to space, and the temperature of the planet’s surface can drop to –173 C.
Venus
The characteristics of the planets of the solar system (Grade 5 studies this topic) leads to the consideration of the planet closest to earthlings - Venus. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is surrounded by an atmosphere that mainly consists of gas - carbon dioxide. In such an atmosphere, clouds of sulfuric acid are constantly observed. Interestingly, despite the fact that Venus is more distant from the Sun than Mercury, its surface temperature is higher and reaches 480 C. This is due to carbon dioxide, which creates a greenhouse effect and retains heat on the planet. Venus has a similar size and density of the earth, but the properties of its atmosphere are destructive to all living things. Chemical reactions in clouds produce acids that can dissolve lead, tin, and stones. In addition, Venus is covered with thousands of volcanoes and rivers of lava, which formed millions of years. Near the surface, the atmosphere of Venus is 50 times thicker than the atmosphere of the Earth. Therefore, all objects penetrating through it explode even before they reach the surface. Scientists have discovered about 400 flat spots on Venus, each of which is from 29 to 48 km in diameter. These are the scars of meteorites that burst above the surface of the planet.
Land
The land where we all live has ideal atmospheric and temperature conditions for life, because our atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. Scientists argue that the earth revolves around the sun, leaning on one side. Indeed, the position of the planet deviates from the right angle by 23.5 degrees. According to scientists, this planet got this tilt, as well as its size after a powerful collision with a cosmic body. It is this slope of the Earth that forms the seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.
Mars
After Earth comes Mars. On Mars, the Sun appears to be three times smaller than from Earth. Only a third of the world, in comparison with what earthlings see, receives Mars. In addition, hurricanes that pick up red dust from the surface often occur on this planet. But, nevertheless, in the summer days the temperature on Mars can reach 17 C, as on Earth. Mars has a red tint, because minerals with iron oxide in its soil beat off the reddish-orange light of the Sun, in other words, Martian soil has a lot of rusty iron in its composition, so Mars is often called a red planet. Martian air is very rarefied -1 percent of the density of the earth's atmosphere. The atmosphere of the planet consists of carbon dioxide. Scientists admit that once upon a time, about 2 billion years ago, there were rivers and water in a liquid state, and the atmosphere contained oxygen, because iron is covered with rust only when interacting with oxygen. It is possible that the atmosphere of Mars was once suitable for the emergence of life on this planet.
As for the chemical and physical parameters, the characteristics of the planets of the solar system are shown below (table for the terrestrial planets).
Planet | Chemical composition of the atmosphere | Physical parameters |
CO 2 | N 2 | O 2 | Ar | H 2 O | Pressure, atm | Temperature, C |
Land | 0.03 | 78 | 21 | 0.93 | 0.1-1.0 | 1 | -30 to + 40 |
Venus | 95 | 3-5 | 0.001 | 0.01 | 0.01-0.1 | 90 | 470 |
Mars | 95 | 2-3 | 0.1-0.4 | 1-2 | 0.01- 0.1 | 0.05 | -70 to 0 |
| | | | | | | |
As you can see, the chemical composition of the atmosphere of all three planets is very different.
This is the characteristic of the planets of the solar system. The table above clearly shows the ratio of various chemicals, as well as the pressure, temperature and the presence of water on each of them, so now it will not be difficult to make a general idea about this.
Giants of the Solar System
Beyond Mars are giant planets, consisting mainly of gases. An interesting physical characteristic of the planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
All giants are covered with a thickness of clouds, and each subsequent one receives less and less light from the Sun. From Jupiter, the Sun looks like a fifth of what earthlings see. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Under thick clouds of ammonia and water, Jupiter is sheltered by an ocean of metallic liquid hydrogen. A feature of the planet is the presence of a giant red spot on the clouds hanging over its equator. It is a gigantic storm with a length of almost 48,000 km that has been orbiting the planet for more than 300 years. Saturn is a planet show in the solar system. On Saturn, sunlight is even weaker, but still it has enough power to illuminate the huge ring system of this planet. Thousands of rings, which consist mainly of ice, are illuminated by the Sun, turning them into giant circles of light.
The rings of Saturn have not yet been studied by earth scientists. According to some versions, they were formed as a result of the collision of his satellite with a comet or asteroid and, under the influence of huge gravity, turned into rings.
The planet Uranus is a cold world, which is located at a distance of 2.9 billion km from the main body. The average temperature of its atmosphere is -177 C. This is the planet with the largest slope and rotates around the Sun, lying on its side, and even in the opposite direction.
Pluto
The most distant planet 9 - icy Pluto - shines with distant cold light, and is located at a distance of 5.8 billion kilometers and looks like a bright star in the dark sky.
This planet is so small and so distant from the Earth that scientists know very little about it. Its surface consists of nitrogen ice, in order to make one revolution around the Sun, it needs about 284 Earth years. The sun on this planet is no different from billions of other stars.
Full description of the planets of the solar system
The table (5th graders study this topic in sufficient detail), located below, allows not only to get an idea of the planets of the solar system, but also makes it possible to compare them by basic parameters.
| Planet | Distance from the Sun, astr. units | Period of circulation, years | The rotation period around the axis | Radius, relative to the radius of the Earth | Mass, relative to the mass of the Earth | Density, kg / m3 | Number of satellites |
Mercury | 0.4 | 0.24 | 59 days | 0.38 | 0.055 | 5430 | - |
Venus | 0.7 | 0.62 | 243 days | 0.95 | 0.815 | 5240 | - |
Land | 1.0 | 1.0 | 23 hours 56 minutes | 1.00 | 1,000 | 5515 | 1 |
Mars | 1.5 | 1.88 | 24 hours 37 minutes | 0.53 | 0.107 | 3940 | 2 |
Jupiter | 5.2 | 11.87 | 9 hours 50 minutes | 11.2 | 318 | 1330 | 61 |
Saturn | 9.6 | 29.67 | 10 hours 12 minutes | 9.4 | 95.2 | 700 | 31 |
Uranus | 19.2 | 84.05 | 17 hours 14 minutes | 4.0 | 14.5 | 1300 | 21 |
Neptune | 30.1 | 164.49 | 16 hours 07 minutes | 3.9 | 17.2 | 1760 | 8 |
As you can see, there is no planet like Earth in our galaxy. The above description of the planets of the solar system (table, grade 5) makes it possible to understand this.
Conclusion
A brief description of the planets of the solar system will allow readers to plunge a little into the world of space and remember that earthlings are the only rational creatures among the vast Universe and the world around them must be constantly protected, preserved and restored.