Solar System

The solar system consists of the Sun and everything that orbits, or travels around, the Sun. This
includes the eight planets and their moons, dwarf planets, and countless asteroids, comets, and
other small, icy objects. However, even with all these things, most of the solar system is empty
space.

The solar system itself is only a small part of a huge system of stars and other objects called
the Milky Way galaxy. The solar system orbits around the center of the galaxy about once every
225 million years. The Milky Way galaxy is just one of billions of galaxies that in turn make up
the universe.

How was the solar system formed?

The solar system was formed about 4.7 billion years ago. It probably started as a loose cloud of
gas and dust. Scientists think that a force called gravity pulled parts of the cloud together into
clumps. The largest clump was squeezed together so tightly that it got very hot. This clump
eventually became the Sun. Over millions of years the other clumps became the planets. The
Sun’s strong gravity eventually pulled the planets into their orbits. Over time some of the leftover
clumps became asteroids, comets, and other small, icy objects.

Sun

Our Sun is a 4.5 billion-year-old star – a hot glowing

ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of our
solar system. The Sun is about 93 million miles (150
million kilometers) from Earth, and without its
energy, life as we know it could not exist here on our
home planet.

The Sun is the largest object in our solar system.

The Sun’s volume would need 1.3 million Earths to
fill it. Its gravity holds the solar system together,
keeping everything from the biggest planets to the
smallest bits of debris in orbit around it. The hottest part of the Sun is its core, where
temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). The Sun’s activity,
from its powerful eruptions to the steady stream of charged particles it sends out, influences the
nature of space throughout the solar system.

The Sun facts

 Equator circumference: 4,379,000km 
 Radius: 695,700km
 Temperature: 5,973°C to 15,000,000°C
 Average orbital speed around the Milky Way: 720,000km/h (200km/s)
 Star type: yellow dwarf
 Average time taken to rotate on axis: 27 Earth days.
 Number of planets: 8

Mercury

The smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun, Mercury is only slightly larger
than Earth's Moon.

From the surface of Mercury, the Sun would appear more than three times as large as it does
when viewed from Earth, and the sunlight would be as much as seven times brighter. Despite its
proximity to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system – that title belongs to
nearby Venus, thanks to its dense atmosphere.

Because of Mercury's elliptical – egg-shaped – orbit, and sluggish rotation, the Sun appears to
rise briefly, set, and rise again from some parts of the planet's surface. The same thing happens
in reverse at sunset.

10 Need-to-Know Things About Mercury

1. SMALL WORLD. Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system – only slightly larger
than Earth's Moon. 
2. INSIDE TRACK. Mercury is the planet that orbits the closest to the Sun.
3. FASTEST PLANET. Mercury is the fastest planet in our solar system – traveling through
space at nearly 29 miles (47 kilometers) per second. The closer a planet is to the Sun, the
 faster it travels. Since Mercury is the fastest planet and has the shortest distance to travel
around the Sun, it has the shortest year of all the planets in our solar system – 88 days.
4. ROUGH SURFACE. Mercury is a rocky planet, also known as a terrestrial planet. Mercury
has a solid, cratered surface, much like the Earth's moon.
5. CAN'T BREATHE THERE. Mercury's thin atmosphere, or exosphere, is composed mostly
of oxygen (O2), sodium (Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and potassium (K). 
6. MOONLESS. Mercury has no moons. 
7. RINGLESS. There are no rings around Mercury. 
8. TOUGH PLACE FOR LIFE. It is unlikely that life as we know it could survive on Mercury
due to solar radiation, and extreme temperatures.
9. BIG SUN. Standing on Mercury's surface at its closest approach to the Sun, our star
would appear more than three times larger than it does on Earth.
10. ROBOTIC VISITORS. Two NASA missions have explored Mercury: Mariner 10 was the
first to fly by Mercury, and MESSENGER was the first to orbit. ESA's BepiColombo is on
its way to Mercury.

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Earth’s closest planetary neighbor. It’s
one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets, and it’s often called Earth’s twin
because it’s similar in size and density. These are not identical twins, however – there
are radical differences between the two worlds.

Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and it’s perpetually
shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat, causing a runaway
greenhouse effect. It’s the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is
closer to the Sun. Surface temperatures on Venus are about 900 degrees Fahrenheit
(475 degrees Celsius) – hot enough to melt lead. The surface is a rusty color and it’s
peppered with intensely crunched mountains and thousands of large volcanoes.
Scientists think it’s possible some volcanoes are still active.
Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface – more than 90 times that of Earth –
similar to the pressure you'd encounter a mile below the ocean on Earth.

Another big difference from Earth – Venus rotates on its axis backward, compared to
most of the other planets in the solar system. This means that, on Venus, the Sun
rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite to what we experience on Earth. (It’s
not the only planet in our solar system with such an oddball rotation – Uranus spins on
its side.)

10 Need-to-Know Things About Venus

1. TOXIC TWIN. Venus is often called "Earth’s twin" because they’re similar in size and
structure, but Venus has extreme surface heat and a dense, toxic atmosphere. If the Sun
were as tall as a typical front door, Earth and Venus would each be about the size of a
nickel.
2. SECOND ROCK. Venus is the second closest planet to the Sun, orbiting at a distance of
about 67 million miles (108 million kilometers)
3. LONG DAYS, SHORT YEARS. Venus rotates very slowly on its axis – one day on Venus
lasts 243 Earth days. The planet orbits the Sun faster than Earth, however, so one year
on Venus takes only about 225 Earth days, making a Venusian day longer than its year!
4. DIVERSE TERRAIN. Venus has a solid surface covered in dome-like volcanoes, rifts, and
mountains, with expansive volcanic plains and vast, ridged plateaus.
5. YOUTHFUL SURFACE. The average surface of Venus is less than a billion years old,
and possibly as young as 150 million years old – which is relatively young from a
geological perspective. This is a major conundrum for scientists – they don’t know exactly
what happened that made Venus completely resurface itself.
6. RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE. Venus’ thick atmosphere traps heat creating a runaway
greenhouse effect – making it the hottest planet in our solar system with surface
temperatures hot enough to melt lead. The greenhouse effect makes Venus roughly
700°F (390°C) hotter than it would be without a greenhouse effect.
7. STINKY CLOUDS. Venus is permanently shrouded in thick, toxic clouds of sulfuric acid
that start at an altitude of 28 to 43 miles (45 to 70 kilometers). The clouds smell like rotten
eggs!
8. SPACECRAFT MAGNET. Venus was the first planet explored by a spacecraft and was
intensely studied early in the history of space exploration. Venus was also the first planet
whose surface was reached by a spacecraft from Earth. The intense heat means landers
have only survived for a couple of hours.
9. LIFE ON VENUS. Venus is an unlikely place for life as we know it, but some scientists
theorize microbes might exist high in the clouds where it’s cooler and the pressure is
similar to Earth’s surface. Phosphine, a possible indicator of microbial life, has been
observed in the clouds.
10. BACKWARD SUNRISE. Venus rotates backward on its axis compared to most planets in
our solar system. This means the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite of
what we see on Earth.