Comparative characteristics of the planets of the solar system: a description and interesting facts

It is difficult to imagine the dimensions of the universe. Our own solar system seems too large, stretching more than 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 the constant, always glowing Sun.

But the characteristics of the planets of the solar system are much more complicated 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. Tied with gravity to the Sun, they revolve around it at great distances. The solar system is chaotic, constantly changing, sometimes even sharply. The forces of gravity cause neighboring planets to influence each other, eventually changing orbits to each other. Hard collisions with asteroids can give new angles to the planets. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system are interesting because they sometimes change the climatic conditions, because their atmospheres evolve and change.

Star named Sun

It's sad to realize this, but the Sun is gradually using up its stock of nuclear fuel. In billions of years it will expand to the size of a giant red star, absorb the planet Mercury and Venus, on Earth, the temperature will rise to such an extent that the oceans evaporate into space, and the Earth will become a dry rocky world, similar to today's Mercury. Exhausting the entire stock of nuclear fusion, the Sun will decrease to the size of a white dwarf, and in millions of years, already as a burnt shell, will turn into a black dwarf. But 5 billion years ago the Sun and its 9 planets were not there 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 Sun was born about 4.6 billion years ago from a huge cloud of dust that spun in space. Our star is a ball of flaming gases, if it were possible to weigh the Sun, the balance would show 1990 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 kg of substance consisting of helium and hydrogen.

The power of gravity

Gravitation, according to scientists, is the most mysterious mystery in the universe. It is the attraction of one matter to another and what gives the planets the form of a sphere. The gravity of the Sun is powerful enough to hold 9 planets, a dozen satellites and thousands of asteroids and comets. All this keeps the invisible threads of gravity around the Sun. But as the distance between cosmic objects increases, the attraction between them rapidly weakens. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system directly depends on gravity. For example, Pluto's attraction 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, then the attraction on its side is more powerful. 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 distant, 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 than 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 it to beat and disperse the 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 into 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 Earth - Venus. Venus, the second from the Sun planet, 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 keeps heat on the planet. Venus has a similar size and density of the earth, but the properties of its atmosphere are disastrous for all living things. Chemical reactions in the clouds produce acids that can dissolve lead, tin and stones. In addition, Venus is covered with thousands of volcanoes and lava rivers, which formed millions of years. Near the surface, the atmosphere of Venus is 50 times thicker than the Earth's atmosphere. Therefore, all objects that penetrate it explode before they reach the surface. Scientists have found on Venus about 400 flat spots, each of which from 29 to 48 km in diameter. These are the scars of meteorites that exploded over the surface of the planet.

Earth

The land where we all live has ideal atmospheric and temperature conditions for life, because our atmosphere consists mainly of nitrogen and oxygen. Scientists prove that the Earth rotates around the Sun, bending one side. Indeed, the position of the planet deviates from a right angle by 23.5 degrees. This slope, as well as its size, according to scientists, our planet received after a powerful collision with the space body. It is this slope of the Earth that forms the seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.

Mars

After the Earth, Mars comes. On Mars, the Sun seems to be three times smaller than from the Earth. Only a third of the world, in comparison with what the Earth sees, receives Mars. In addition, on this planet there are often hurricanes that raise red dust from the surface. But, nevertheless, in the summer days the temperature on Mars can reach 17 C, as on Earth. Mars has a red tint, because the minerals with iron oxide in its soil repel the reddish-orange light of the Sun, in other words, the Martian soil has many rusty iron in its composition, so Mars is often called the 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 on this planet once, about 2 billion years ago, there were rivers and water in a liquid state, and the atmosphere contained oxygen, because the 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 (a table for terrestrial planets) are shown below.

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 availability of water on each of them, so that it will not be difficult to get a general idea about this.

The Giants of the Solar System

Behind Mars there 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 the giants are covered with a thick cloud, and each successor receives less and less light from the sun. From Jupiter, the Sun looks like the fifth part of what earthlings see. Jupiter is the planet in the solar system with the largest dimensions. Under thick clouds of ammonia and water, Jupiter is covered by the ocean of metallic liquid hydrogen. The peculiarity of the planet is the presence of a giant red spot on the clouds, hanging over its equator. This is a giant storm of nearly 48,000 km long, which has been spinning over the planet for more than 300 years. Saturn is a planet show in the solar system. On Saturn, the sunlight is still weaker, but still it has enough power to illuminate the huge system of rings 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 a collision of his companion with a comet or an asteroid and under the influence of huge gravity turned into rings.

The planet Uranus is a cold world, which is located from the main luminary at a distance of 2.9 billion km. The average temperature of its atmosphere is -177 С. It is the planet with the greatest slope and it rotates around the Sun, lying on its side, and in the opposite direction.

Pluto

The farthest 9th planet - the icy Pluto - shines with distant cold light, and is 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 about it very little. 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 the billions of other stars.

Full characteristic of the planets of the solar system

The table (5-graders study this topic in sufficient detail), located below, allows not only to comprehend the planets of the solar system, but also makes it possible to compare them by basic parameters.

As you can see, there is no planet like this in our Galaxy. The above characteristic 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 into the world of space a little and remember that the earthlings are still the only intelligent beings among the vast universe and the world around them must be constantly guarded, preserved and restored.