Sizes of the planets in the solar system. Comparative characteristics of the planets of the solar system: description and interesting facts

Since 2005, it has been accepted that there are eight planets in the solar system. This is due to the discovery of M. Browne, who proved that Pluto is a dwarf planet. Of course, the opinions of scientists are divided: some believe that this planet should not be classified as a dwarf planet, but it should be returned to its former title, while others agree with Michael. There are even opinions that have suggested increasing the number of planets to twelve. Because of these discrepancies, scientists had to draw up criteria by which space objects are classified as planets:

1. They must make revolutions around the Sun.
2. The mass of the planets in the solar system must be such as to allow the object to have gravity to keep it spherical.
3. The object must clear the orbital path of unnecessary bodies.

Pluto failed in assessing it according to these criteria, for which he was excluded from the list of planets.

Mercury

Not far from the Sun is the first and closest planet to it - Mercury. The distance from it to the star is about 58 million kilometers. This object is considered the smallest planet in our system. Its diameter is only slightly more than 4800 kilometers, and the duration of one year (by earthly standards) is eighty-seven days, with fifty-nine days being the duration of one day on Mercury. The mass of the planet of the solar system is only 0.055 of the earth's mass, i.e. 3.3011 x 10 23 kg.

Reminds me of the moon. An interesting fact is that this planet of our system has no satellites.

If a person weighs fifty kilograms on Earth, then on Mercury his weight will be about twenty. The temperature ranges from -170 to +400 °C.

Venus

The next planet is Venus. It is removed one hundred and eight million kilometers from the star. The diameter and mass of the planet of the solar system is close to our Earth, but still it is smaller. is 0.81 of the earth, i.e. 4.886 x 10 24 kg. Here the year lasts two hundred and twenty-five days. Venus has an atmosphere, but it's filled with sulfuric acid, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.

This space object is clearly visible from the Earth in the evening and morning: because of the bright glow, Venus is often mistaken for a UFO.

Earth

Our native home is located from the luminary at a distance of one hundred and fifty million kilometers. The mass of the planet of the solar system is 5.97 x 10 24 kg. Our year has 365 days. The range of heating and cooling of the planet's surface is +60 to -90 degrees Celsius. constantly changing: the percentage of land and water fluctuates. We have a satellite - the Moon.

On Earth, the atmosphere consists of nitrogen, oxygen and other impurities. According to scientists, this is the only world where there is life.

Mars

From the Sun to Mars is almost three hundred million kilometers. This object has another name - the Red Planet. It is obtained due to the reddish tint of the surface created by iron oxide. On the axis of inclination and rotation, Mars strongly resembles the Earth: seasonalities are also formed on this planet.

On its surface there are many deserts, volcanoes, ice caps, mountains, valleys. The atmosphere of the planet is very thin, the temperature drops to -65 degrees. The mass of a planet in the solar system is 6.4171 x 1024 kg. Around the sun, the planet makes a complete turn in 687 earth days: If we were Martians, then our age would be half that.

According to the latest data, due to the mass and size, this planet of the solar system began to refer to terrestrial objects.

There is no oxygen in the atmosphere, but there is nitrogen, carbon and other impurities. The soil contains a large amount of iron.

Jupiter

This is a huge body located at a distance of almost eight hundred million kilometers from the Sun. Giant larger than the earth 315 times. There are very strong winds, the speed of which reaches six hundred kilometers per hour. There are auroras that almost never stop.

The radius and mass of the planet of the solar system are impressive: it weighs 1.89 x 10 27 kg, and its diameter is almost half a million kilometers (for comparison, the diameter of the Earth is only twelve thousand seven hundred kilometers).

Jupiter resembles a separate system, where the planet acts as a luminary, and dozens of objects revolve around it. This impression is created by numerous satellites (67) and moons. An interesting fact: if on Earth a person weighs about forty-five kilograms, then on Jupiter his weight will be more than a centner.

Saturn

Saturn is located at a distance of almost one and a half billion kilometers from the Sun. This beautiful planet with an unusual ring system. Saturn has gas layers that are concentrated around the core.

The mass of the planet is 5.66 x 10 26 kg. One revolution around the star takes almost thirty Earth years. Despite such a long year, the day here lasts only eleven hours.

Saturn has 53 moons, although scientists managed to find nine more, but so far they have not been confirmed and do not belong to the moons of Saturn.

Uranus

At a distance of almost three billion kilometers is the beautiful giant planet Uranus. It is classified as an ice gas giant due to the composition of the atmosphere: methane, water, ammonia and hydrocarbons. A large number of methane makes it blue.

A year on Uranus lasts eighty-four Earth years, but the length of the day is short, only eighteen hours.

Uranus is the fourth largest planet in the solar system: it weighs 86.05 x 1024 kg. It has twenty-seven satellites and has a small ring system.

Neptune

At a distance of four and a half billion kilometers from the Sun is Neptune. This is another ice gas giant. The planet has satellites and a weak ring system.

The mass of the planet is 1.02 x 10 26 kg. Neptune flies around the sun in one hundred and sixty-five years. The day here lasts only sixteen hours.

The planet has water, methane, ammonia, helium.

Neptune has thirteen satellites and one more has not yet received the status of the moon. In the ring system, scientists distinguish six formations. Only one could fly to this planet artificial satellite- Voyager 2, launched into space many years ago.

Gas ice giants are very cold, here the temperature drops to -300 degrees and below.

Pluto

The former Pluto was able to maintain its status as a planet for a long century. However, in 2006 it was transferred to the status. Little is known about this object. Scientists cannot yet say exactly how long a year lasts here: it was discovered in 1930 and to this day it has traveled only a third of the orbital path.

Pluto has five moons. The diameter of the planet is only 2300 kilometers, but there is a lot of water here: according to scientists, it is three times more than on Earth. The surface of Pluto is completely covered with ice, among which ridges and dark small areas are visible.

Having considered the sizes and masses, we can draw conclusions about how different they are. Eat large objects, and there are also small ones that look like ants near baseballs.

On a conditional map of the solar system, the difference in the dimensions of celestial bodies does not seem so significant to us, but if we look in more detail, then comparing the sizes of the planets will be a real discovery for us.

The diameter of the Earth is only 12,000 kilometers. For us who live here, the distance seems huge, but the circumference of the Sun is almost 117 times greater! This despite the fact that by the standards of the Universe it is considered a rather small celestial body.

Comparison of the sizes of planets with the Sun

Let us consider in more detail the physical and mathematical parameters of each object in order to clearly see their colossal difference (the unit of measurement is km).

Comparison of the sizes of the planets of the solar system. Zoom on click.

1. Mercury. "Dwarf" among all the planets. With a radius of about 2.5 thousand and a mass of 3.3x10 23 kg. This is only 0.055 of the Earth. Among other things, their density is almost the same, equal to 5.4 g / cu. see Surface area - about 15%.
2. Venus. Girth 6.05 thousand and weight 4.87x10 24 kg is 20% less. Surface - 4.6x10 8 squares, (10% difference).
3. Earth. Radius - 6.4 thousand, weight 5.98x10 24 kg, an area of ​​510 million square meters.
4. Mars. Diameter - 6.8 thousand, that is, almost half of ours. Weight 6.42x10 23 kg forms a tenth of its mass. Surface - 144.37 million squares. The parameters of Mars are surpassed only by Mercury.
5. Jupiter. Gas "giant" of the solar system. Its radius is eleven times greater than that of the object, the dimensions of the surface are -120! Its weight is almost 3.2 of a green planet.
6. Saturn. It ranks second in size after Jupiter. The girth is four times larger than ours. With regards to dimensions, the following comparison can be made: the expanses of Saturn will contain approximately 10 Earths.
7. Uranus. The radius is almost the same as its neighbor Saturn. Weight 8.68x10 25 kg, it is ahead of the human abode about 14.5 times.
8. Neptune. The area/mass ratio is approximately 15/17, respectively. The diameter of Neptune is 4 Earth's equators.

It is obvious: the sizes of the planets are extremely small compared to the Sun, but is it true that the known luminary is the most gigantic object in the Universe? Let's figure it out further.

Comparison of the sizes of stars and planets

Everyone knows that the Sun is a huge star, the dimensions of which repeatedly exceed the parameters of other celestial bodies. However, there are countless celestial bodies in the Universe, relative to which the star seems to be a small dot.

Comparison of the sizes of the moons of the solar system. Zoom on click.

The most compact red dwarfs are considered, for example, Centaurus and Proxima. Differences with the Sun - 78% downward. That is, they are slightly larger than Jupiter.

Rigel has a heavier / larger ratio - 17/62, respectively. Do you think this is an impressive number? We present to you Betelgeuse - it is like 20 Suns. And some objects from the constellation big dog almost 2000 times larger. If they occupied the positions of our luminaries, they would easily reach Saturn.

Consists of eight planets, which are divided into two main groups: (Venus, Mercury, Earth and Mars) and (Uranus, Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter). All these planets revolve around the Sun, and six of them have natural satellites. The surface of Mercury resembles the Moon with vast plains and craters, which means that there has been no volcanic activity for thousands of years. While Mercury is smallest planet Solar system, title belongs to . The best way To determine the size of a planet is to measure its volume and how much matter it contains.

Mass and size of Mercury

The average radius of Mercury is 2439.7±1 km, which is equivalent to 38% of the radius of the Earth. Since the planet does not have oblate poles, it is a perfect sphere, and the radius at both poles is the same. The diameter of Mercury is 2.5 times smaller than that of the Earth. Although smaller than some of the natural Solar System bodies such as Titan and Ganymede, Mercury is more expansive. The mass of Mercury is 3.3011 × 10²³ kg, and its size is closer to the size of the Moon than the Earth, which exceeds it in mass and volume by almost 20 times.

Density and volume of Mercury

Mercury is denser than some of the larger planets. With a density of 5.427 g/cm³, it is the second most dense planet in the solar system after Earth, with a density of 5.5153 g/cm³. The gravitational force of Mercury is about 0.38 of the Earth's. This means that if you were standing on Mercury, your weight would be 62% less than on your home planet. The volume of Mercury is approximately 0.056 of the Earth's.

Structure and composition of Mercury

Mercury belongs to the terrestrial planets, it consists of metals and silicate minerals. Metals differ from the crust, the silicate mantle, and the metallic core. Compared to other planets, Mercury has a large core with a radius of 1800 km, which occupies about 55% of the planet's volume (for comparison, the share of the Earth's core is about 17%). Mercury's core has a high iron content compared to all the planets in the solar system, and there are many theories to explain this feature.

One of the most common hypotheses is that the planet was once very large, but was impacted by a planetesimal that greatly reduced the bulk of the original mantle and crust, leaving only the core components. Another theory is that Mercury may have formed from the solar nebula before the Sun's energy output stabilized. The planet was originally twice its current size, but as the proto-sun shrank in size, Mercury underwent evaporation from the heat, thereby forming an atmosphere of steam and rock that was blown away by the wind. There is also an opinion that the nebula caused the drag of the particles from which the planet was formed, and Mercury did not collect light particles.

a\u003e\u003e\u003e Sizes of the planets of the solar system

The sizes of the planets of the solar system in order. Description with photo for all planets around the Sun, comparison with Earth and rating: from smallest to largest.

If you like the planets, then you can learn a lot only within our system. Solar objects provide different views and each instance is endowed with its own unique features. But the size is also amazing. To find out the details, it is worth starting with the history of the formation of the solar system.

The origin of the solar system

The solar system appeared 4.5 billion years ago. This figure is given by the analysis of terrestrial rocks and space rocks, as well as computer models. The researchers believe that it all started with a rotating haze of dust and gas. One day, gravity caused it to collapse and our star was born. Theories say that her energy pushed away the lighter elements and attracted the larger ones.

For millions of years, the particles merged and rotated, creating larger objects. This is how the planets were born. Most of the gas went into external system, giving rise to gas giants, and in the inner one there were planets of the terrestrial type.

Until the 1990s scientists had modest knowledge about the planets. But technology developed and it turned out that there are also many planets outside our system. Some of them even surpassed Jupiter, while others resembled our Earth.

There were also objects like Pluto in the solar system. This forced the IAU to issue new criteria and the 9th planet was relegated to the dwarf category.

Now a planet is considered to be a body that makes an orbital passage around the Sun, with sufficient massiveness to achieve hydrostatic balance and clear the orbit of foreign objects.

Dimensions of 8 planets of the solar system in numbers

Let's look at the sizes of the planets in the solar system in descending order of the radius index (from largest to smallest):

• Jupiter (69,911 km) - 1.120% of the earth.
• Saturn (58,232 km) - 945% of the earth.
• Uranus (25,362 km) - 400% of the earth.
• Neptune (24,622 km) - 388% of the earth.
• Earth (6,371 km).
• Venus (6,052 km) - 95% of the earth.
• Mars (3390 km) - 53% of the earth.
• Mercury (2440 km) - 38% of the earth.

Jupiter is the most big planet solar system. Its gravity influenced the movement of the inner planets and the distribution of mass during formation. It can also attract and repel comets and asteroids from Earth.

Saturn is notable for its ring system. And Uranus and Neptune are representatives of the ice giants.

As part of the inner planets of the terrestrial group: Venus (terrestrial sister), Mars (cool desert), Mercury (the smallest) and Earth - home.

The sun holds by its gravity the planets and other bodies belonging to the solar system.

Other bodies are planets and their satellites, dwarf planets and their satellites, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and space dust. But in this article we will only talk about the planets of the solar system. They make up the bulk of the mass of objects associated with the Sun by gravity (attraction). There are only eight of them: Mercury, Venus, Earth Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune . The planets are named in order of their distance from the Sun. Until recently, Pluto, the smallest planet, was also among the planets of the solar system, but in 2006 Pluto was deprived of the status of a planet, because. In the outer part of the solar system, many objects more massive than Pluto have been discovered. After the reclassification, Pluto was added to the list of minor planets and received number 134340 in the Minor Planet Center catalog. But some scientists disagree and continue to believe that Pluto should be reclassified back into a planet.

Four planets - Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called terrestrial planets. They are also called inner planets, because their orbits lie inside the Earth's orbit. The terrestrial planets are united by the fact that they are composed of silicates (minerals) and metals.

Four other planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - called gas giants, because they are mostly made up of hydrogen and helium and are much more massive than the terrestrial planets. They are also called outer planets.

Look at the image of the terrestrial planets in terms of their size in relation to each other: Earth and Venus are about the same size, and Mercury is the smallest planet among the terrestrial planets (from left to right: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars).

The terrestrial planets are united, as we have already said, by their composition, and also by the fact that they have a small number of satellites, that they do not have rings. The three inner planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) have an atmosphere (a shell of gas around a celestial body held by gravity); all have impact craters, rift troughs, and volcanoes.

Consider now each of the terrestrial planets.

Mercury

It is located closest to the Sun and is the smallest planet in the solar system, its mass is 3.3 10 23 kg, which is 0.055 of the mass of the Earth. The radius of Mercury is only 2439.7 ± 1.0 km. The average density of Mercury is quite high - 5.43 g / cm³, which is slightly less than the density of the Earth. Considering that the Earth is larger in size, the value of the density of Mercury indicates an increased content of metals in its bowels.

The planet got its name in honor of the ancient Roman god of trade Mercury: he was swift, and the planet moves across the sky faster than other planets. Mercury has no satellites. Its only known geological features, aside from impact craters, are numerous jagged escarpments extending for hundreds of kilometers. Mercury has an extremely rarefied atmosphere, a relatively large iron core and a thin crust, the origin of which is currently a mystery. Although there is a hypothesis: the outer layers of the planet, consisting of light elements, were torn off as a result of a giant collision, which reduced the size of the planet, and also prevented the complete absorption of Mercury by the young Sun. The hypothesis is very interesting, but requires confirmation.

Mercury revolves around the Sun in 88 Earth days.

Mercury has not yet been sufficiently studied, only in 2009 was it compiled complete map based on images from the Mariner-10 and Messenger spacecraft. No natural satellites have yet been discovered near the planet, and it is not easy to notice it in the sky due to the small angular distance from the Sun.

Venus

It is the second inner planet of the solar system. It revolves around the Sun in 224.7 Earth days. The planet is close in size to the Earth, its mass is 4.8685ˑ10 24 kg, which is 0.815 of the Earth's mass. Like the Earth, it has a thick silicate shell around an iron core and an atmosphere. Venus is the third brightest object in the Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon. It is assumed that internal geological activity occurs inside the planet. The amount of water on Venus is much less than on Earth, and its atmosphere is ninety times denser. Venus has no satellites. This is the most hot planet, its surface temperature exceeds 400 °C. The most likely reason for such a high temperature, astronomers believe the greenhouse effect that occurs due to dense atmosphere, rich in carbon dioxide, which is approximately 96.5%. The atmosphere on Venus was discovered by M. V. Lomonosov in 1761.

No evidence of geological activity has been found on Venus, but since it has no magnetic field, which would prevent the depletion of its essential atmosphere, this allows us to assume that its atmosphere is regularly replenished volcanic eruptions. Venus is sometimes referred to as " sister of the earth"- they really have a lot in common: they are similar in size, gravity and composition. But there are still more differences. The surface of Venus is covered with thick clouds of highly reflective sulfuric acid, so its surface cannot be seen in visible light. But radio waves were able to penetrate its atmosphere, and with their help, its relief was studied. Disputes of scientists continued for a long time about what is under the thick clouds of Venus. And only in the 20th century, the science of planetology established that the atmosphere of Venus, which consists mainly of carbon dioxide, is explained by the fact that there is no cycle of carbon and life on Venus that could process it into biomass. Scientists believe that once, a very long time ago, there were oceans on Venus similar to those on Earth, but they completely evaporated due to the strong heating of the planet.

Atmospheric pressure on the surface of Venus is 92 times greater than on Earth. Some astronomers believe that volcanic activity on Venus continues even now, but no clear evidence of this has been found. Not found yet... It is believed that Venus is a relatively young planet, by astronomical standards, of course. It is approximately only... 500 million years old.

The temperature on Venus was calculated, it is approximately + 477 ° C, but scientists believe that Venus is gradually losing its internal high temperature. Observations from automatic space stations discovered in the atmosphere of the planet thunderstorms.

The planet got its name in honor of the ancient Roman goddess of love Venus.

Venus has been actively explored with the help of spacecraft. The first spacecraft was the Soviet Venera-1. Then there were the Soviet "Vega", the American "Mariner", "Pioner-Venus-1", "Pioneer-Venus-2", "Magellan", the European "Venus Express", the Japanese "Akatsuki". In 1975, the spacecraft Venera-9 and Venera-10 transmitted the first photographs of the surface of Venus to Earth, but the conditions on the surface of Venus are such that none of the spacecraft has worked on the planet for more than two hours. But research on Venus continues.

Earth

Our Earth is the largest and densest of the inner planets in the solar system. Among the terrestrial planets, the Earth is unique in connection with its hydrosphere ( water shell). Earth's atmosphere differs from the atmospheres of other planets in that it contains free oxygen. The earth has one natural satellite- The Moon, the only large satellite of the terrestrial planets of the solar system.

But we have a more detailed discussion about the planet Earth in a separate article. Therefore, we will continue the story about the planets of the solar system.

Mars

This planet smaller than Earth and Venus, its mass is 0.64185 10 24 kg, which is 10.7% of the mass of the Earth. Mars is also called red planet"- due to iron oxide on its surface. Its rarefied atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide (95.32%, the rest is nitrogen, argon, oxygen, carbon monoxide, water vapor, nitric oxide), and the pressure on the surface is 160 times less than that of the earth. Impact craters like those of the Moon, as well as volcanoes, valleys, deserts and polar ice caps like those of Earth, all make it possible to classify Mars as a terrestrial planet.

The planet got its name in honor of Mars - the ancient Roman god of war (which corresponds to the ancient Greek Ares). Mars has two natural, relatively small satellites - Phobos and Deimos (translated from ancient Greek - "fear" and "horror" - that was the name of the two sons of Ares, who accompanied him in battle).

Mars was studied by the USSR, the USA and the European Space Agency (ESA). The USSR / Russia, USA, ESA and Japan sent the Automatic Interplanetary Station (AMS) to Mars to study it, there were several programs to study this planet: Mars, Phobos, Mariner, Viking, Mars Global Surveyor and others.

It has been established that due to low pressure water cannot exist in a liquid state on the surface of Mars, but scientists suggest that conditions on the planet were different in the past, so they do not exclude the presence primitive life on the planet. In 2008, water in the state of ice was discovered on Mars by NASA's Phoenix spacecraft. The surface of Mars is explored by rovers. The geological data they have collected suggests that earlier, most of the surface of Mars was covered with water. On Mars, they even discovered something like geysers - sources hot water and couple.

Mars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye.

The minimum distance from Mars to the Earth is 55.76 million km (when the Earth is exactly between the Sun and Mars), the maximum is about 401 million km (when the Sun is exactly between the Earth and Mars).

The average temperature on Mars is -50 °C. The climate, like on Earth, is seasonal.

asteroid belt

Between Mars and Jupiter is a belt of asteroids - small bodies of the solar system. Scientists suggest that these are the remnants of the formation of the solar system, which could not unite into a large body due to the gravitational perturbations of Jupiter. Asteroids vary in size from a few meters to hundreds of kilometers.

outer solar system

The outer solar system contains gas giants ( Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune ) and their companions. The orbits of many short-period comets are also located here. Due to their greater distance from the Sun, and therefore much lower temperature, the solid objects of this region contain ices of water, ammonia, and methane. In the photo you can compare their sizes (from left to right: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune).

Jupiter

This is a huge planet with a mass of 318 Earth masses, which is 2.5 times more massive than all the other planets combined, and the equatorial radius is 71,492 ± 4 km. It consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter is the most powerful (after the Sun) radio source in the solar system. The average distance between Jupiter and the Sun is 778.57 million km. The presence of life on Jupiter seems unlikely due to the low concentration of water in the atmosphere, the absence of a solid surface, etc. Although scientists do not exclude the possibility of the existence of water-hydrocarbon life on Jupiter in the form of some undefined organisms.

Jupiter has been known to people since ancient times, which is reflected in mythology different countries, and its name comes from the ancient Roman thunder god Jupiter.

There are 67 known moons of Jupiter, the largest of which were discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610.

Jupiter is explored with ground and orbital telescopes; Since the 1970s, 8 NASA interplanetary vehicles have been sent to the planet: Pioneers, Voyagers, Galileo and others. On the planet, powerful storms, lightning, auroras, many times superior to those on earth, have been noticed.

Saturn

A planet known for its ring system. In fact, these romantic rings are just flat concentric formations of ice and dust that lie in the equatorial plane of Saturn. Saturn has a structure of the atmosphere and magnetosphere somewhat similar to Jupiter, but much smaller: 60% of Jupiter's mass (5.6846 10 26 kg). Equatorial radius - 60 268 ± 4 km.

The name of the planet was in honor of the Roman god of agriculture, Saturn, so its symbol is a sickle.

The main component of Saturn is hydrogen with helium impurities and traces of water, methane, ammonia and heavy elements.

Saturn has 62 moons. Of these, the largest is Titan. It is interesting in that it is larger than the planet Mercury and has the only dense atmosphere among the satellites of the solar system.

Observations of Saturn have been going on for a long time: even Galileo Galilei noticed in 1610 that Saturn has “two companions” (satellites). And Huygens in 1659, using a more powerful telescope, saw the rings of Saturn and discovered its largest satellite, Titan. Then, gradually, astronomers discovered other satellites of the planet.

The modern study of Saturn began in 1979, when the Pioneer 11 automatic interplanetary station of the United States flew near Saturn, and then finally approached it. Then the American AMS Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 followed to Saturn, as well as Cassini-Huygens, which, after 7 years of flight on July 1, 2004, reached the Saturn system and entered orbit around the planet. The main tasks were to study the structure and dynamics of the rings and satellites, as well as to study the dynamics of the atmosphere and magnetosphere of Saturn and a detailed study largest satellite planet - Titan. In 2009, a joint American-European project between NASA and ESA appeared to launch the AMS Titan Saturn System Mission to study Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus. During it, the station will fly to the Saturn system for 7-8 years, and then become a satellite of Titan for two years. It will also launch a probe balloon into Titan's atmosphere and a lander.

The lightest of the outer planets is 14 Earth masses (8.6832 10 25 kg). Uranus was discovered in 1781 by the English astronomer William Herschel using a telescope and named after the Greek sky god Uranus. It turns out that Uranus is distinguishable in the sky with the naked eye, but those who saw it before did not guess that it was a planet, because. the light from it was very dim, and the movement was very slow.

Uranus, as well as Neptune similar to it, are classified into the category " ice giants”, as there are many modifications of ice in their bowels.

The atmosphere of Uranus is mostly hydrogen and helium, but there are also traces of methane, solid ammonia. Its atmosphere is the coldest (−224 °C).

Uranus also has a ring system, a magnetosphere and 27 moons. The axis of rotation of Uranus lies, as it were, “on its side” relative to the plane of revolution of this planet around the Sun. As a result, the planet is turned towards the Sun alternately then north pole, then the south, then the equator, then the middle latitudes.

In 1986, the American spacecraft Voyager 2 transmitted close-up images of Uranus to Earth. The images do not show images of such storms as on Jupiter, but according to observations from Earth, seasonal changes are taking place there, weather activity has been noticed.

Neptune

Neptune is smaller than Uranus (equatorial radius 24 764 ± 15 km), but its mass is 1.0243 10 26 kg more mass Uranus is 17 Earth masses.

It is the most distant planet in the solar system. Its name is associated with the name of Neptune - the Roman god of the seas, so the trident of Neptune is an astronomical symbol.

Neptune is the first planet discovered by mathematical calculations, not observations (Neptune is not visible to the naked eye), and this happened in 1846. This was done by a French mathematician who studied celestial mechanics, who worked most of his life at the Paris Observatory - Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier.

Although Galileo Galilei observed Neptune in 1612 and 1613, he mistook the planet for a fixed star in conjunction with Jupiter in the night sky. Therefore, the discovery of Neptune is not attributed to Galileo.

Soon, its satellite Triton was also discovered, but the remaining 12 satellites of the planet were discovered in the 20th century.

Neptune, like Saturn and Pluto, has a ring system.

Neptune's atmosphere, like that of Jupiter and Saturn, is mostly hydrogen and helium, with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, but contains a lot of ice. The core of Neptune, like Uranus, consists mainly of ice and rocks. The planet seems of blue color- this is due to traces of methane in the outer layers of the atmosphere.

In the atmosphere of Neptune, the most strong winds among the planets of the solar system.

Neptune was visited by only one spacecraft, Voyager 2, which flew close to the planet on August 25, 1989.

This planet, like all the others, holds many mysteries. For example, for unknown reasons, the planet's thermosphere has an abnormally high temperature. But it is too far from the Sun for it to heat up the thermosphere with ultraviolet radiation. Here's a challenge for you, future astronomers. And the Universe sets a lot of such tasks, enough for everyone ...

The weather on Neptune is characterized by strong storms, winds reaching almost supersonic speeds (about 600 m/s).

Other bodies of the solar system

This comets- small bodies of the solar system, usually only a few kilometers in size, consisting mainly of volatile substances(ice), centaurs- ice comet-like objects, trans-Neptunian objects located in space beyond Neptune, Kuiper belt- fragments similar to the asteroid belt, but consisting mainly of ice, scattered disk…

To the question of where exactly the solar system ends and interstellar space begins, there is no exact answer yet ...