Planets in Our Solar System

When we talk of the planets of our solar system, we do invariably think of Earth and its neighbors. Currently our solar system officially consists of only eight planets since the expulsion of Pluto from the league. Though these planets are far away from us, still they can be seen with a small telescope and some can even be at times seen with the naked eye. The eight planets of our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Most of these planets have satellites of their own. Some of the satellites of the larger planets are quite big in size in their own right. Many of these planets also at times do come quite near to elliptical paths across which they revolve around the sun.

The universe is made up of a numerous stars and many have of them have planets rotating around them. Among them is our sun, which acts as a main energy for the entire solar system. The biggest planet of the solar system is Jupiter. It has many satellites as compared to Earth, which has only one satellite, and that is the moon. At least four of the moons of Jupiter are quite visible to the naked eye during large periods of the year. Likewise, other planets too have satellites like Mars which has Phobos and Deimos; Saturn has Rhea, Titan, Hyperion; Uranus has Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca; and Neptune has Proteus, Triton, to name a few.

Apart from these eight planets and their respective satellites our solar system witnesses other smaller celestial bodies like comets. One of the famous commet is Halley's Commet. The solar system also sees the eclectic presence of meteors and asteroids. Commets are at times even termed as " dirty snowballs," as mixture of ice and dust are present in them.

The solar system and the planets have evolved over time. Since the time when planets were burning hot and then reorganized to their current state, billions of years have elapsed. Now when we look back at the history of time, we are surprised to find that human existence invariably forms a very miniscule moment of time of a day in the history of our solar system.

Our solar system has planets that are characterized by different compositional and atmospheric conditions. Some do not even have an atmosphere in the true sense. Only earth is known to support life, though recently some evidence suggests that Mars may also be place where life existed or has the potential to exist. Some of this planets are extremely fascinating to study. Take Saturn, for example, with the rings that surround it always. It is awe inspiring and a great source of scientific curiosity. In ancient days Saturn was the focal point of many fears and superstitions. Only now that we have been able to discover many of its mysteries including a understanding of how its rings are formed.

Humans have always tried to study the planets of the solar system. With space missions like Voyager visiting nearly every planet of our solar system; currently we are much more aware of characteristics of each planet. Though often lot of scientists still look out find out new things about the planets of our solar system. If you wish study the planets of the solar system in close detail referring to a astronomical books and journals would serve your purpose. These planets will always have the power to hold out attention and raise our curiosity.