Our Solar System

When we think about our solar system what naturally comes to our mind is the sun and planets revolving around it. Officially it currently is believed to consisting of the sun and the other official 8 planets, namely: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Earlier, Pluto was also considered to be a separate planet but now Pluto is regarded as a dwarf planet. The solar system also has around 130 satellites of the planets. It also includes numerous small bodies. In the inner part of the solar system lies the sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth whereas in the outer part planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are located.

The orbits of the various planets are known as ellipses and the sun is at the focus whereas the other planets except Mercury are circular. The sun is the largest object in our solar system. There are various personifications of the sun as well. The Greeks call it "Helios" whereas the Romans call it "sol". Photosphere is called the surface of the sun. Above the photosphere lies the chromosphere. The sun emits heat and light to us. All the 8 planets and the small bodies orbit the sun.

The closest planet to the sun is Mercury and it is the eighth largest planet of the solar system. In the Roman mythology, Mercury is considered to be the God of travel, commerce as well. Until now only 1 spacecraft managed to visit the Mercury, Mariner 10. Mercury has one of the most extreme temperatures in the entire solar system having a very thin atmosphere. Mercury is quite often visible in the sky. As it is so close to the sun, we cannot see this planet in the twilight sky.

Venus is the 6th largest planet of the solar system and this planet is also the 2nd planet from the Sun. Venus is also said to be the brightest planet after the Sun and Mercury. Venus is also regarded as the sister planet of the Earth since it is a bit smaller than the Earth. At one time, Venus too had large amounts of water but it was ultimately boiled away due to its closeness to the sun. Venus is also addressed as the morning star and the evening star and it by far the brightest star of the entire solar system.

The earth is the 5th largest planet which does not derive its name from any of the mythologies. The Earth is the most dense planet of the solar system. The most remarkable aspect of the Earth is that it has oxygen so survival of living things is possible. The only natural satellite of the earth is the moon.

Mars is the 7th largest planet and was named after the God of War. Mars might have derived this name due to its red color. The month March originates from the word mars.

Jupiter is the largest planet of the solar system and it is double the size of the other planets. Jupiter was the king of the Gods according to the Greek mythology popularly known as Zeus. Jupiter also has rings like Saturn but the rings are fainter as compare to Saturn. Saturn is the 2nd largest planet and according to the Romans Saturn is the God of agriculture. Saturn has very thin rings which are composed of water ice, basically. The seventh planet from the Sun is Uranus. The Greeks consider Uranus as the Deity of the Heavens and it is blue in color. Neptune is the eighth planet and this planet was the God of the sea. The rings of Neptune are dark and have unknown compositions.