Our solar system is one among many in the galaxy. It is made up of a superstar called the sun and all the planetary bodies revolving around the sun. The solar system is elliptical in shape and has nine planets revolving around the sun. Most of the planets have at least one moon revolving around them. Apart from the sun and the planets, the solar system is made up of asteroids, comets, rocky objects and space between the planets. There is a total of eight planets in the solar system; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The sun forms the center of the solar system with the largest source of electromagnetic energy. There are two types of planets in the solar system; rocky planets and gas planets. As a consequence, the solar system is divided into two major planets. There are terrestrial planets and Jovian planets. Terrestrial planets include Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Earth. On the other hand, Jovian planets include Uranus, Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn (Adams 32).
There are various planets with moons revolving around them such as the earth. Different planets have a different number of moons revolving around them. Earth has only one moon that takes 28 days to completely revolve around it. Astronomers have discovered at least 146 moons revolving around different planets in the solar system. Additional 27 moons have not been confirmed as moons yet (Encrenaz 87). Among the terrestrial planets, only Venus and Mercury don’t have any moon orbiting them. Mars has two moons while the majority of the moons present within the solar system revolve around the gas planets like the Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, and Neptune. Jupiter has at least 50 moons with at least 17 mores awaiting confirmation. The largest moon in the solar system orbits Jupiter. It is known as Ganymede. On the other hand, Saturn has 53 moons while Uranus has 27 moons. There are 13 moons orbiting the surface of Neptune.
Different planets in the solar system have a different atmosphere. The surface of Mercury is too small and too hot to maintain an atmosphere. Its exosphere is composed of hydrogen, oxygen-helium, sodium and water vapor. Venus has a dense surface which is made up of carbon dioxide and little amount of nitrogen. The surface of the earth is primarily made of water vapor, oxygen, and carbon dioxide gas. On the other hand, Mars has a thin atmosphere which is majorly composed of carbon dioxide, argon, and nitrogen. The surface of Saturn is majorly composed of molecular helium and hydrogen (Lewis 54).
The sun produces its heats and light energy through a nuclear reaction. It is considered a huge nuclear reactor with various nuclear reactions happening every second. This energy is released in the solar system through electromagnetic propagation. Pluto is not regarded as a plant given that it does not meet the criterion used in labeling planets. Even though it orbits the sun, it is too small to be categorized as a planet (Mahaffy 264). Additionally, its distance from the sun is too long. As a consequence, it is known as a dwarf planet. Distance in the solar system is measured regarding light years. A light year is an element of astronomical distance which is equal to the distance light takes to travel in a year. It is estimated to be six trillion miles.
The sun produces a gravitational pull on all the planets in the solar system. The revolution of the planets around the sun is maintained by a centrifugal force which pulls the planets inwards towards the center of the solar system; the sun.
Works Cited
Adams, Fred C. "The birth environment of the Solar System." arXiv preprint arXiv:1001.5444 (2010).
Encrenaz, Thérèse, et al. The solar system. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
Lewis, John. Physics and chemistry of the solar system. Academic Press, 2012.
Mahaffy, Paul R., et al. "Abundance and isotopic composition of gases in the martian atmosphere from the Curiosity rover." Science 341.6143 (2013): 263-266.
