Satellites of the Sun: description, quantity, name and features

The central star of our system, in different orbits around which all the planets pass, is called the Sun. Its age is about 5 billion years. This is a yellow dwarf, so the star's dimensions are small. Its thermonuclear reactions are not spent very quickly. The solar system has reached approximately the middle of its life cycle. After 5 billion years, the balance of gravity will be broken, the star will increase in size, gradually warm up. Thermonuclear synthesis converts the entire hydrogen of the Sun into helium. By this time, the size of the star will be three times larger. In the end, the luminary will cool down, decrease. Today the Sun consists almost entirely of hydrogen (90%) and a little bit of helium (10%).

Today, the satellites of the Sun are 8 planets around which other celestial bodies are circulating, several dozen comets, and a huge number of asteroids. All these objects move in their orbit. If you combine the mass of all the satellites of the Sun, it turns out that they are 1000 times lighter than their star. The main heavenly bodies of the system deserve detailed consideration.

General concept of the solar system

To consider the satellites of the Sun, it is necessary to get acquainted with the definitions: what is a star, a planet, a satellite, etc. A star is called a body emitting light and energy into space. This is possible due to the thermonuclear reactions occurring in it and the compression processes under the influence of gravity. In our system there is only one star - the Sun. There are 8 planets around it.

The planet is today called the celestial body, which revolves around the star and has a spherical (or close to it) form. Such objects do not emit light (they are not a star). They can reflect it. Also, the planet does not have other large celestial bodies near its orbit.

A satellite is also called an object that rotates around other large stars or planets. It is held in orbit by the force of attraction of this large celestial body. To understand how many satellites from the Sun, it should be noted that this list, in addition to the planets, includes asteroids, comets, meteorites. Recalculate them is almost impossible.

Planets

Until recently, it was believed that our system has 9 planets. After much discussion, Pluto was excluded from this list. But it is also part of our system.

8 main planets keep the Sun in their orbits. A satellite (planet) can also have celestial bodies revolving around it. There are quite large objects. All planets are divided into 2 groups. The first include the inner satellites of the Sun, and the outer ones.

The planets of the terrestrial (first) group are as follows:

1. Mercury (closest to the star).
2. Venus (the most hot planet).
3. Earth.
4. Mars (the most accessible object for research).

They consist of metals, silicates, their surface is hard. The external group is the gas giants. They include:

1. Jupiter.
2. Saturn.
3. Uranus.
4. Neptune.

Their composition is characterized by a high content of hydrogen and helium. These are the largest planets in the system.

Satellites of the planets

Considering the question of how many satellites the Sun has, we should mention the celestial bodies revolving around the planets. In ancient Greece, the planets were Venus, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn. Only in the 16th century Earth was added to this list. The sun has occupied its central importance in our system in understanding people. The moon turned out to be a satellite of the Earth.

With the advent of more advanced technologies, it was established that almost all planets have their satellites. Only Venus and Mercury do not possess them. Today, about 60 satellites of the planets are known, which are characterized by different sizes. The smallest known of them is Leda. This satellite of Jupiter is only 10 km in diameter.

Most of these objects, located in the orbit of gas giants, were detected using automatic space technology. She provided scientists with photographs of such celestial objects.

Mercury and Venus

Two fairly small in size object has the closest thing to our star. The satellite of the Sun Mercury is the smallest planet of the system. Venus is somewhat larger than him. But both these planets do not have their own satellites.

Mercury has a highly discharged atmosphere of helium. Around his star, he makes a turn for 88 terrestrial days. But the duration of turnover around its axis for this planet is 58 days (by our standards). The temperature from the sunny side reaches +400 degrees. At night, cooling is fixed to -200 degrees.

In Venus, the atmosphere consists of hydrogen with nitrogen and oxygen impurities. There is a greenhouse effect here. Therefore, the surface heats up to a record +480 degrees. This is more than on Mercury. This planet is best seen from Earth, since its orbit passes closest to us.

Earth

Our planet is the largest among all representatives of the terrestrial group. It is unique in many ways. The earth has the largest celestial body rotating in its orbit, among the first 4 planets from the star. This is the Moon. The satellite of the Sun, which is our planet, differs significantly from everyone by its atmosphere. Thanks to this, life became possible on her.

About 71% of the surface is occupied by water. The remaining 29% is land. The basis of the atmosphere is nitrogen. It also includes oxygen, carbon dioxide, argon and water vapor.

Earth's satellite The moon has no atmosphere. There is no wind, no sound, no weather. It is a stony, bare surface, covered with craters. On Earth, traces of meteorite impacts are smoothed out under the influence of the vital activity of various species, thanks to wind and weather. On the moon, there is nothing. Therefore, all traces of its past are reflected very clearly.

Mars

This is the closing planet of the terrestrial group. It is called the "Red Planet" due to the large content of iron oxide in the ground. It's a fairly Earth-like companion. Around the Sun it rotates 678 earth days. Scientists believed that there could once have been life. However, studies have not confirmed this. The satellites of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. They are smaller in size than the Moon.

It's colder here than on our planet. At the equator, the temperature reaches 0 degrees. At the poles, it drops to -150 degrees. This world is already available for flights of astronauts. A spacecraft can reach the planet in 4 years.

In distant times, rivers flowed on the surface of the planet. There was water here. Now there are ice caps on the poles. Only they are not composed of water, but carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Scientists suggest that water can be frozen in the form of large blocks below the surface of the planet.

Gas giants

Behind Mars are the largest objects that accompany the Sun. The planets (satellites of the planets of this group) were studied using various techniques. The largest object of our system is Jupiter. It is 2.5 times more massive than all the planets around the sun. It consists of helium, hydrogen (which is similar to our star). The planet radiates heat. However, to be considered a star, Jupiter must become 80 times heavier. Has 63 satellites.

Saturn is slightly smaller than Jupiter. He is known for his rings. These are ice particles of different diameters. The density of the planet is less than that of water. Has 62 satellites.

Uranus and Neptune are even further than the two previous planets. They were detected using a telescope. They contain a large number of high-temperature modifications of ice. This is the "Ice Giants". Uranus has 23 satellites, and Neptune has 13 satellites.

Pluto

Satellites of the sun are also supplemented by a small object called Pluto. From 1930 to 2006 he held the title of the planet. However, after lengthy discussions, scientists came to the conclusion that this is not a planet. Pluto falls into another category. From the point of view of the current planetary classification, this is the prototype of dwarf planets. The surface of the object is covered with frozen ice from methane and nitrogen. Pluto has 1 satellite.

Having studied the main satellites of the Sun, it should be said that this is a whole system consisting of a large number of different objects. Their characteristics, indicators are different. All these objects unite force, which makes them invariably rotate around their central star.