How the planets are located. The structure of the solar system. How the solar system came into being
Welcome to the astronomy portal, a site dedicated to our Universe, space, major and minor planets, stellar systems and their components. Our portal provides detailed information about all 9 planets, comets, asteroids, meteors and meteorites. You can learn about the origin of our Sun and Solar System.
The sun, together with the nearest celestial bodies that revolve around it, form the solar system. The number of celestial bodies includes 9 planets, 63 satellites, 4 systems of rings around giant planets, more than 20 thousand asteroids, a huge number of meteorites and millions of comets. Between them there is a space in which electrons and protons (particles of the solar wind) move. Although scientists and astrophysicists have been studying our solar system for a long time, there are still unexplored places. For example, most of the planets and their satellites have been studied only fleetingly from photographs. We saw only one hemisphere of Mercury, and a space probe did not fly to Pluto at all.
Almost all the mass of the solar system is concentrated in the sun - 99.87%. The size of the Sun also exceeds the size of other celestial bodies. This is a star that, due to high surface temperatures, shines on its own. The planets surrounding it shine with light reflected from the Sun. This process is called albedo. There are nine planets in total - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Pluto and Neptune. Distance in the solar system is measured in units of our planet's average distance from the sun. It is called an astronomical unit - 1 AU. = 149.6 million km. For example, the distance from the Sun to Pluto is 39 AU, but sometimes this figure increases to 49 AU.
The planets revolve around the Sun in almost circular orbits that lie relatively in the same plane. In the plane of the Earth's orbit lies the so-called plane of the ecliptic very close to the average of the plane of the orbits of the other planets. Because of this, the apparent paths of the planets of the Moon and the Sun in the sky lie near the ecliptic line. The orbital inclinations start from the ecliptic plane. Angles less than 90 correspond to counterclockwise motion (forward orbital motion), and angles greater than 90 correspond to reverse motion.
In the solar system, all planets move in a forward direction. Pluto has the largest orbital inclination of 17 ⁰. Most comets move in the opposite direction. For example, the same Halley's comet - 162⁰. All the orbits of bodies that are in our solar system are mostly elliptical. The closest point of the orbit to the Sun is called perihelion, and the farthest is called aphelion.
All scientists, taking into account terrestrial observation, divide the planets into two groups. Venus and Mercury, as the closest planets to the Sun, are called internal, and the more distant external. The inner planets have a limiting angle of distance from the Sun. When such a planet is removed to the maximum east or west of the Sun, astrologers say that it is located in the greatest eastern or western elongations. And if the inner planet is visible in front of the Sun, it is located in the lower conjunction. When behind the Sun, it is in the upper conjunction. Just like the Moon, these planets have specific phases of illumination during the synodic time period Ps. The true orbital period for planets is called sidereal.
When the outer planet is located behind the Sun, it is in conjunction. In the event that it is located in the direction opposite to the Sun, it is said that it is in opposition. The planet that is observed at an angular distance of 90⁰ from the Sun is considered to be quadrature. The asteroid belt between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars divides the planetary system into 2 groups. The inner ones belong to the terrestrial planets - Mars, Earth, Venus and Mercury. Their average density ranges from 3.9 to 5.5 g / cm 3. They are ringless, rotate slowly along their axis, and have a small number of natural satellites. The Earth has the Moon, and Mars has Deimos and Phobos. Behind the asteroid belt are the giant planets - Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter. They are characterized by a large radius, low density and deep atmosphere. There is no solid surface on such giants. They are spinning very fast, surrounded by big amount satellites and have rings.
In ancient times, people knew the planets, but only those that were visible to the naked eye. In 1781 V. Herschel discovered another planet - Uranus. In 1801, G. Piazzi discovered the first asteroid. Neptune was discovered twice, first theoretically - by W. Le Verrier and J. Adams, and then physically - by I. Halle. Pluto as the most distant planet was discovered only in 1930. Galileo discovered four moons of Jupiter in the 17th century. Since that time, numerous discoveries of other satellites have begun. All of them were performed using telescopes. H. Huygens first learned about the fact that Saturn is surrounded by a ring of asteroids. Around Uranus, dark rings were discovered in 1977. The rest of the space discoveries were mainly made by special machines and satellites. So, for example, in 1979, thanks to the Voyager 1 probe, people saw the stone transparent rings of Jupiter. And 10 years later, Voyager 2 discovered the inhomogeneous rings of Neptune.
Our portal site will tell you basic information about the solar system, its structure and celestial bodies. We present only the advanced information that is relevant at the moment. One of the most basic celestial bodies in our galaxy is the Sun itself.
The sun is at the center of the solar system. It is a natural single star with a mass of 2 * 1030 kg and a radius of about 700,000 km. The temperature of the photosphere - the visible surface of the Sun - 5800K. Comparing the density of the gas in the solar photosphere with the density of air on our planet, we can say that it is thousands of times less. Inside the Sun, density, pressure, and temperature increase with depth. The deeper, the higher the indicators.
The high temperature of the sun's core affects the conversion of hydrogen to helium, resulting in the release of large amounts of heat. Because of this, the star does not collapse under the influence of its own gravity. The energy that is released from the core leaves the Sun in the form of radiation from the photosphere. Radiation power - 3.86 * 1026 W. This process has been going on for about 4.6 billion years. According to rough estimates, scientists have already converted from hydrogen to helium about 4%. Interestingly, 0.03% of the mass of the Star is converted into energy in this way. Taking into account the models of life of the Stars, it can be assumed that the Sun has now passed half of its own evolution.
The study of the sun is extremely difficult. Everything is connected precisely with high temperatures, but thanks to the development of technology and science, mankind is gradually mastering knowledge. For example, in order to define the content chemical elements on the Sun, astronomers study radiation in the spectrum of light and absorption lines. Emission lines (emission lines) are very bright parts of the spectrum that indicate an excess of photons. The frequency of a spectral line tells which molecule or atom is responsible for its appearance. Absorption lines are represented by dark gaps in the spectrum. They indicate missing photons of one frequency or another. And, therefore, they are absorbed by some chemical element.
By studying the thin photosphere, astronomers estimate the chemical composition of its interior. The outer regions of the Sun are mixed by convection, the solar spectra are of high quality, and their responsible physical processes are explicable. Due to the lack of funds and technologies, so far only half of the lines of the solar spectrum have been intensified.
The basis of the Sun is hydrogen, followed by helium in quantity. It is an inert gas that does not react well with other atoms. Likewise, he is reluctant to show up in the optical spectrum. Only one line is visible. The entire mass of the Sun is 71% hydrogen and 28% helium. The rest of the elements take up a little more than 1%. Interestingly, this is not the only object in the solar system that has the same composition.
Sunspots are regions of the surface of a star with a large vertical magnetic field. This phenomenon interferes with the vertical movement of the gas, thereby suppressing convection. The temperature of this area drops by 1000 K, thus forming a spot. Its central part - "shadow", is surrounded by a higher temperature region - "penumbra". In terms of size, such a spot in diameter is slightly larger than the size of the Earth. Its viability does not exceed a period of several weeks. There is no specific number of sunspots. In one period there may be more of them, in another - less. These periods have their own cycles. On average, their figure reaches 11.5 years. The vitality of stains depends on the cycle, the larger it is, the less stains there are.
Fluctuations in the activity of the Sun have practically no effect on the total power of its radiation. Scientists have long tried to find a connection between the Earth's climate and the sunspot cycles. An event is associated with this solar phenomenon - the "Maunder minimum". In the middle of the 17th century, for 70 years, our planet felt the Small glacial period... Simultaneously with this event, there were practically no spots on the Sun. Until now, it is not known exactly whether there is a connection between these two events.
In total, there are five large constantly rotating hydrogen-helium balls in the solar system - Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and the Sun itself. Almost all the substances of the solar system are located inside these giants. Direct study of distant planets is not yet possible, so most of the unproven theories remain unproven. The same situation is with the bowels of the Earth. But people still found a way to somehow study the internal structure of our planet. Seismologists do a good job with this issue by observing seismic shocks. Naturally, their own methods are quite applicable to the Sun. In contrast to seismic earth movements, constant seismic noise acts in the sun. Under the converter zone, which occupies 14% of the Star's radius, matter rotates synchronously with a period of 27 days. Above the convective zone, rotation proceeds synchronously along cones of equal latitude.
More recently, astronomers have tried to apply seismological methods to study giant planets, but no results have been achieved. The fact is that the instruments used in this study cannot yet record the emerging oscillations.
A thin, highly hot layer of the atmosphere is located above the Sun's photosphere. It can be seen especially during the moments of solar eclipses. It is called the chromosphere because of its red color. The chromosphere is about several thousand kilometers thick. From the photosphere to the top of the chromosphere, the temperature doubles. But it is still unknown why the energy of the Sun is released, leaves the chromosphere in the form of heat. The gas above the chromosphere is heated to one million K. This area is also called the corona. Along the radius of the Sun, it extends one radius and has a very low density of gas within itself. Interestingly, the temperature is very high at low gas densities.
From time to time in the atmosphere of our star, formations of gigantic size are created - eruptive prominences. Arched in shape, they rise from the photosphere to a great height of about half the solar radius. According to the observations of scientists, it turns out that the shape of the prominences is constructed by the lines of force emanating from the magnetic field.
Solar flares are considered to be another interesting and extremely active phenomenon. These are very powerful emissions of particles and energy lasting up to 2 hours. Such a flux of photons from the Sun to the Earth reaches in eight minutes, and protons and electrons reach in several days. Such flares are created in places where the direction of the magnetic field changes abruptly. They are caused by the movement of substances in sunspots.
The solar system is a system of planets, which includes its center - the Sun, as well as other objects of the Cosmos. They revolve around the sun. Until recently, 9 objects of the Cosmos, which revolve around the Sun, were called "planet". Now scientists have established that outside the solar system there are planets that revolve around the stars.
In 2006, the Union of Astronomers proclaimed that the planets of the solar system are spherical space objects orbiting the sun. On the scale of the solar system, the Earth appears to be extremely small. In addition to the Earth, eight planets revolve around the Sun in their individual orbits. All of them are larger than the Earth. Rotate in the plane of the ecliptic.
Planets in the solar system: types
The location of the terrestrial group in relation to the Sun
The first planet is Mercury, behind it is Venus; followed by our Earth and, finally, Mars.
Planets terrestrial group do not have many satellites or moons. Of these four planets, only Earth and Mars have satellites.
The planets that belong to the terrestrial group are distinguished by high density, consist of metal or stone. Basically, they are small and rotate on their own axis. Their rotation speed is also low.
Gas giants
These are four space objects that are at the greatest distance from the Sun: under number 5 is Jupiter, followed by Saturn, then Uranus and Neptune.
Jupiter and Saturn are both impressive planets, composed of compounds of hydrogen and helium. The density of gas planets is low. They rotate at high speed, have satellites and are surrounded by rings of asteroids.
The “ice giants”, which include Uranus and Neptune, are smaller; their atmospheres contain methane and carbon monoxide.
Gas giants have a strong gravitational field, so they can attract many space objects, in contrast to the terrestrial group.
Scientists hypothesize that asteroid rings are the remnants of moons altered by the gravitational field of planets. 
Dwarf planet
Dwarfs are space objects, the size of which does not reach the planet, but exceeds the dimensions of an asteroid. There are a great many such objects in the solar system. They are concentrated in the region of the Kuiper belt. The satellites of the gas giants are dwarf planets that have left their orbit. 
The planets of the solar system: the process of origin
According to the hypothesis of cosmic nebulae, stars are born in clouds of dust and gas, in nebulae.
Due to the force of attraction, substances unite. Under the influence of concentrated gravity, the center of the nebula contracts and stars are formed. Dust and gases are transformed into rings. The rings rotate under the influence of gravity, and planetazimals are formed in the whirlpools, which enlarge and attract cosmetic objects.
Under the influence of the force of gravity, the planetazimals contract and acquire spherical outlines. The spheres can merge and gradually turn into protoplanets. 
There are eight planets within the solar system. They revolve around the sun. Their location is as follows:
The closest "neighbor" of the Sun is Mercury, followed by Venus, followed by the Earth, followed by Mars and Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and the last, Neptune, are located even further from the Sun.
The planets of the solar system - a little history
Previously, a planet was considered to be any body that revolves around a star, glows with light reflected from it, and has a size larger than that of asteroids.
Also in Ancient Greece mentioned seven luminous bodies that move across the sky against the background of fixed stars. These cosmic bodies were: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The Earth was not included in this list, since the ancient Greeks considered the Earth to be the center of everything.
And only in the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus, in his scientific work entitled "On the Circulation of the Celestial Spheres", came to the conclusion that not the Earth, but the Sun should be in the center of the planetary system. Therefore, the Sun and the Moon were removed from the list, and the Earth was added to it. And after the appearance of telescopes, Uranus and Neptune were added, in 1781 and 1846, respectively.
The last discovered planet of the solar system from 1930 until recently was Pluto.
And now, almost 400 years after the creation of the world's first telescope for observing stars by Galileo Galilei, astronomers have come to the following definition of a planet.
Planet Is a celestial body that must satisfy four conditions:
the body must revolve around the star (for example, around the sun);
the body must have sufficient gravity to be spherical or close to it;
the body should not have other large bodies near its orbit;
the body should not be a star.
In turn, the polar star is a cosmic body that emits light and is a powerful source of energy. This is explained, firstly, by the thermonuclear reactions occurring in it, and secondly, by the processes of gravitational compression, as a result of which great amount energy.
The planets of the solar system today
solar system Is a planetary system that consists of a central star - the Sun - and all natural space objects revolving around it.
So, today the solar system consists of of eight planets: four inner, so-called terrestrial planets, and four outer planets, called gas giants.
Terrestrial planets include Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars. All of them are composed mainly of silicates and metals.
The outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The gas giants are composed mainly of hydrogen and helium.
The sizes of the planets of the solar system differ both within groups and between groups. So, gas giants are much larger and more massive than the terrestrial planets.
The closest to the Sun is Mercury, then, as far away as possible: Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
It would be wrong to consider the characteristics of the planets of the solar system without paying attention to its main component: the sun itself. Therefore, we will start with him. 
The sun planet is a star that gave rise to all life in the solar system. Planets, dwarf planets and their satellites, asteroids, comets, meteorites and cosmic dust revolve around it.
The sun appeared about 5 billion years ago, is a spherical, incandescent plasma ball and has a mass that is more than 300 thousand times the mass of the Earth. The surface temperature is over 5000 Kelvin, and the core temperature is over 13 million K.
The sun is one of the largest and most bright stars in our galaxy, which is called the Milky Way galaxy. The Sun is located at a distance of about 26 thousand light years from the center of the Galaxy and makes a complete revolution around it in about 230-250 million years! For comparison, the Earth makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 1 year.
Mercury planet
Mercury is the smallest planet in the system, which is closest to the Sun. Mercury has no satellites.
The planet's surface is covered with craters that arose about 3.5 billion years ago as a result of massive meteorite bombardments. The craters can range in diameter from a few meters to over 1000 km.
Mercury's atmosphere is highly rarefied, composed mostly of helium, and is blown up by the solar wind. Since the planet is located very close to the Sun and does not have an atmosphere that would keep warm at night, the surface temperature ranges from -180 to +440 degrees Celsius.
By earthly standards, Mercury makes a complete revolution around the Sun in 88 days. But the Mercury days are equal to 176 Earth days.
Venus planet
Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun in the solar system. Venus is only slightly inferior in size to the Earth, therefore it is sometimes called the "sister of the Earth". Has no satellites.
The atmosphere is composed of carbon dioxide with admixtures of nitrogen and oxygen. The air pressure on the planet is more than 90 atmospheres, which is 35 times more than on Earth.
Carbon dioxide and, as a consequence, the greenhouse effect, the denser atmosphere, as well as the proximity to the Sun allow Venus to bear the title of “the hottest planet”. The temperature on its surface can reach 460 ° C.
Venus is one of the brightest objects in the earth's sky after the Sun and the Moon.
Planet Earth 
The Earth is the only known planet in the Universe today on which there is life. The earth has the largest dimensions, mass and density among the so-called inner planets Solar system.
The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and life appeared on the planet about 3.5 billion years ago. Moon - natural satellite, the largest of the satellites of the terrestrial planets.
The atmosphere of the Earth is fundamentally different from the atmospheres of other planets due to the presence of life. Most of the atmosphere is nitrogen, and it also contains oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide and water vapor. The ozone layer and the Earth's magnetic field, in turn, weaken the life-threatening effects of solar and cosmic radiation.
Because of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there is also a greenhouse effect on Earth. It does not manifest itself as strongly as on Venus, but without it, the air temperature would be about 40 ° C lower. Without the atmosphere, temperature fluctuations would be very significant: according to scientists, from -100 ° С at night to + 160 ° С during the day.
About 71% of the Earth's surface is occupied by the world ocean, the remaining 29% are continents and islands.
Mars planet
Mars is the seventh largest planet in the solar system. "Red planet", as it is also called due to the presence of a large amount of iron oxide in the soil. Mars has two moons: Deimos and Phobos.
The atmosphere of Mars is highly discharged, and the distance to the Sun is almost one and a half times greater than that of the Earth. Therefore, the average annual temperature on the planet is -60 ° C, and temperature drops in some places reach 40 degrees during the day.
Distinctive features of the surface of Mars are impact craters and volcanoes, valleys and deserts, polar ice caps like those on Earth. The highest mountain in the solar system is located on Mars: the extinct volcano Olympus, whose height is 27 km! And also the largest canyon: the Valley of the Mariner, the depth of which reaches 11 km and the length - 4500 km 
Jupiter planet
Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. It is 318 times heavier than Earth, and almost 2.5 times more massive than all the planets of our system combined. In its composition, Jupiter resembles the Sun - it consists mainly of helium and hydrogen - and emits a huge amount of heat equal to 4 * 1017 W. However, in order to become a star like the Sun, Jupiter must be 70 to 80 times heavier.
Jupiter has as many as 63 satellites, of which it makes sense to list only the largest - Callisto, Ganymede, Io and Europa. Ganymede is the largest satellite in the solar system, even larger than Mercury.
As a result of certain processes in the inner atmosphere of Jupiter, many vortex structures arise in its outer atmosphere, for example, stripes of brownish-red clouds, as well as the Great Red Spot, a giant storm known since the 17th century.
Saturn planet
Saturn is the second largest planet in the solar system. Business card Saturn is, of course, its ring system, which consists mainly of ice particles of various sizes (from tenths of a millimeter to several meters), as well as rocks and dust.
Saturn has 62 moons, the largest of which are Titan and Enceladus.
In its composition, Saturn resembles Jupiter, but in density it is inferior even to ordinary water.
The outer atmosphere of the planet appears to be calm and uniform, due to a very dense layer of fog. However, the wind speed in some places can reach 1800 km / h.
Uranus planet
Uranus is the first planet discovered with a telescope and is also the only planet in the solar system to orbit the sun "lying on its side."
Uranus has 27 moons, which are named after Shakespeare's heroes. The largest of them are Oberon, Titania and Umbriel.
The composition of the planet differs from the gas giants in the presence of a large number of high-temperature modifications of ice. Therefore, along with Neptune, scientists have identified Uranus in the category of "ice giants". And if Venus has the title of the "hottest planet" in the solar system, then Uranus is the coldest planet with a minimum temperature of about -224 ° C.
Neptune planet
Neptune is the outermost planet in the solar system. The history of its discovery is interesting: before observing the planet through a telescope, scientists, using mathematical calculations, calculated its position in the sky. This happened after the discovery of unexplained changes in the movement of Uranus in its own orbit.
Today science knows 13 satellites of Neptune. The largest of them - Triton - is the only satellite that moves in the direction opposite to the rotation of the planet. The fastest winds in the solar system also blow against the planet's rotation: their speed reaches 2200 km / h.
Compositionally, Neptune is very similar to Uranus, therefore it is the second "ice giant". However, like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune has an internal heat source and emits 2.5 times more energy than it receives from the Sun.
The blue color of the planet is given by traces of methane in the outer layers of the atmosphere.
Conclusion
Pluto, unfortunately, did not have time to get into our parade of the planets of the solar system. But there is absolutely no need to worry about this, because all the planets remain in their places, despite changes in scientific views and concepts.
So, we answered the question how many planets are in the solar system. There are only 8 .
Hello dear readers! This post will focus on the structure of the solar system. I believe that it is simply necessary to know where our planet is located in the Universe, as well as what else is in our solar system besides the planets ...
The structure of the solar system.
solar system- this is a system of cosmic bodies, which, in addition to the central luminary - the Sun, includes nine major planets, their satellites, many small planets, comets, cosmic dust and small meteoric bodies that move in the sphere of the predominant gravitational action of the Sun.
In the middle of the 16th century, the general structure of the structure of the solar system was revealed by the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. He refuted the idea that the Earth is the center of the Universe and substantiated the idea of the motion of the planets around the Sun. This model of the solar system is called heliocentric.
In the 17th century, Kepler discovered the law of planetary motion, and Newton formulated the law of universal attraction. But only after Galileo invented the telescope in 1609, it became possible to study the physical characteristics of the solar system, cosmic bodies.
So Galileo, observing sunspots, first discovered the rotation of the Sun around its axis.
Planet Earth is one of nine celestial bodies (or planets) that orbit the Sun in outer space.
The main part of the solar system is made up of planets, which revolve around the Sun at different speeds in the same direction and almost in the same plane in elliptical orbits and are located at different distances from it.
The planets are arranged in the following order from the Sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. But Pluto sometimes moves away from the Sun by more than 7 billion km, but due to the huge mass of the Sun, which is almost 750 times the mass of all other planets, it remains in its sphere of attraction.
The largest of the planets Is Jupiter. Its diameter is 11 times the diameter of the Earth and is 142,800 km. The smallest of the planets- This is Pluto, which is only 2,284 km in diameter.
The planets that are closest to the Sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are very different from the next four. They are called terrestrial planets., since, like the Earth, they are composed of solid rocks.
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are called Jupiter-type planets, as well as giant planets, and in contrast to them are composed mainly of hydrogen.
There are also other differences between Jupiterian and terrestrial planets."Jupiterians" together with numerous satellites form their own "solar systems".
Saturn has at least 22 moons. And there are only three satellites, including the Moon, in the terrestrial planets. And above all, Jupiter-type planets are surrounded by rings.
Debris from the planets.
Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, there is a large gap that could accommodate another planet. This space, in fact, is filled with many small celestial bodies, which are called asteroids, or minor planets.
Ceres is the name of the largest asteroid, with a diameter of about 1000 km. To date, 2,500 asteroids have been discovered, which are much smaller in size than Ceres. These are blocks with diameters that do not exceed several kilometers in size.
Most of the asteroids revolve around the Sun in a wide "asteroid belt" that lies between Mars and Jupiter. The orbits of some asteroids go far beyond this belt, and sometimes approach quite close to the Earth.
These asteroids cannot be seen with the naked eye because they are too small and very distant from us. But other debris - comets, for example - can be visible in the night sky due to their brilliant radiance.
Comets are celestial bodies that are composed of ice, particulate matter and dust. Most of the time, the comet moves in the distant parts of our solar system and is invisible to the human eye, but when it approaches the sun, it begins to glow.
This happens under the influence of solar heat. The ice partially evaporates and turns into gas, releasing dust particles. The comet becomes visible because the cloud of gas and dust reflects sunlight. The cloud, under the pressure of the solar wind, turns into a waving long tail.
There are also such space objects that can be observed almost every evening. They burn up when they enter the Earth's atmosphere, leaving a narrow luminous trail in the sky - a meteor. These bodies are called meteoric bodies, and their size is no larger than a grain of sand.
Meteorites are large meteoric bodies that reach the earth's surface... Due to the collision of huge meteorites with the Earth, in the distant past, huge craters were formed on its surface. Almost a million tons of meteorite dust is deposited on Earth every year.
The birth of the solar system.
Large gas and dust nebulae, or clouds, are scattered among the stars of our galaxy. In the same cloud, about 4600 million years ago, our solar system was born.This birth took place as a result of the collapse (compression) of this cloud under the action eat the forces of gravity.
Then this cloud began to rotate. And over time, it turned into a rotating disk, the bulk of the substance of which was concentrated in the center. The gravitational collapse continued, the central compaction constantly decreasing and warming up.
The thermonuclear reaction began at a temperature of tens of millions of degrees, and then the central compaction of matter burst into a new star - the Sun.
The planets were formed from dust and gas in the disk. The collision of dust particles, as well as their transformation into large lumps, took place in the inner heated areas. This process is called accretion - increment.
The mutual attraction and collision of all these blocks led to the formation of terrestrial planets.
These planets had a weak gravitational field and were too small to attract the light gases (such as helium and hydrogen) that make up the accretion disk.
The birth of the solar system was a common occurrence - such systems are constantly and everywhere in the universe born. And maybe in one of these systems there is a planet similar to Earth, on which intelligent life exists ...
So we examined the structure of the solar system, and now we can arm ourselves with knowledge for their further application in practice 😉
Our own solar system appears to be too large, extending 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
A typical picture of the solar system is as follows: 9 planets revolve in their oval orbits around the constant, always blazing 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 Pluto's orbit, which has been recognized as a dwarf planet, are tens of thousands of comets and other frozen worlds. Tied by gravity to the sun, they revolve around it at great distances. The solar system is chaotic, constantly changing, sometimes even dramatically. The forces of gravity force neighboring planets to influence each other, eventually changing each other's orbits. Hard collisions with asteroids can give planets new tilt angles. The characteristic of the planets of the solar system is interesting in that they sometimes change climatic conditions, because their atmospheres develop and change.
A Star Called The Sun
It is sad to realize this, but the Sun is gradually consuming its supply of nuclear fuel. In billions of years, it will expand to the size of a giant red star, engulf the planets Mercury and Venus, while on Earth the temperature will rise to such levels that the oceans will evaporate into space, and the Earth will become a dry rocky world, similar to today's Mercury. Having exhausted the entire supply of nuclear fusion, the Sun will decrease to the size of a white dwarf, and after millions of years, already as a burnt-out 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 orbited through space. Our star is a ball of flaming gases, if the Sun could be weighed, the scales would show 1990,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg of matter consisting of helium and hydrogen.
Force of gravity
Gravity, 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 shape of a ball. The sun's gravity 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 threads of gravity. But as the distance between space objects increases, the attraction between them quickly weakens. The characteristics of the planets of the solar system directly depend on gravity. For example, Pluto's pull toward the Sun is much less than the pull 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 from 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 distant 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 appears to be 3 times as large as Earth's Sun. During the day it can be dazzlingly bright. But the sky is dark even during the day, because IT has no atmosphere to beat back and scatter sunlight. When the Sun hits the rocky 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 is studying this topic) leads to the consideration of the closest planet for earthlings - Venus. Venus, the second planet from the Sun, is surrounded by an atmosphere, which mainly consists of a 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 to the earth, but the properties of its atmosphere are detrimental 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 lava rivers that have formed over millions of years. Near the surface, Venus's atmosphere is 50 times thicker than Earth's. Therefore, all objects that penetrate through it explode even before they hit the surface. Scientists have discovered about 400 flat spots on Venus, each of which is 29 to 48 km in diameter. These are the scars of meteorites that exploded above the planet's surface.
Earth
The Earth, 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 revolves around the Sun, tilting on one side. Indeed, the position of the planet deviates from the right angle by 23.5 degrees. This tilt, as well as its size, according to scientists, our planet received after a powerful collision with a cosmic body. It is this tilt 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 light, in comparison with what earthlings see, gets Mars. In addition, hurricanes often occur on this planet, raising red dust from the surface. But, nevertheless, on summer days the temperature on Mars can reach 17 C, as well as on Earth. Mars has a red hue, because the minerals with iron oxide in its soil reflect the reddish-orange light of the Sun, in other words, the Martian soil contains a lot of rusty iron, so Mars is often called the red planet. Martian air is very thin -1 percent of the density of the earth's atmosphere. The planet's atmosphere is made up of carbon dioxide. Scientists admit that once upon a time, about 2 billion years ago, there were rivers and water in a liquid state on this planet, and the atmosphere contained oxygen, because iron is covered with rust only when it interacts 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).
The chemical composition of the atmosphere | Physical parameters |
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Pressure, atm. | Temperature, С |
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-30 to + 40 |
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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 chemical substances, as well as pressure, temperature and the presence of water on each of them, so it will not be difficult to get a general idea about this.
Giants of the Solar System
Beyond Mars, there are giant planets composed mostly of gases. The physical characteristics of the planets of the solar system, such as Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are interesting.
All giants are covered with thick 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 giant storm nearly 48,000 km long and has been orbiting the planet for more than 300 years. Saturn is a show planet in the solar system. On Saturn, sunlight is even weaker, but still powerful enough to illuminate the planet's vast ring system. Thousands of rings, which are mostly made of ice, are illuminated by the Sun, transforming them into giant circles of light.
The rings of Saturn have not yet been studied by earthly scientists. According to some versions, they were formed as a result of the collision of its satellite with a comet or asteroid and, under the influence of tremendous gravity, turned into rings.
The planet Uranus is a cold world located at a distance of 2.9 billion km from the main star. The average temperature of its atmosphere is -177 C. It is a planet with the greatest inclination and revolves around the Sun, lying on its side, and even in the opposite direction.
Pluto
The most distant planet 9 - icy Pluto - shines with a 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 Earth that scientists know very little about it. Its surface consists of nitrogen ice, in order to make one revolution around the Sun, it takes about 284 Earth years. The sun on this planet is no different from billions of other stars.
Complete characteristics of the planets of the solar system
The table (5-graders study this topic in sufficient detail), located below, allows you not only to get an idea of the planets of the solar system, but also makes it possible to compare them in basic parameters.
| Planet | Distance from the Sun, asters. units | Circulation period, years | Period of rotation 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 | |||||||
23 hours 56 minutes | |||||||
24 hours 37 minutes | |||||||
9 h. 50 min. | |||||||
10 hours 12 minutes | |||||||
17 hours 14 minutes | |||||||
16 hours 07 minutes |
As you can see, there is no planet like the Earth 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 a little into the world of space and remember that earthlings are still the only intelligent beings among the vast Universe and the world around them must be constantly protected, preserved and restored.
