The 8 planets of the Solar System (ordered and with their characteristics)

The Solar System, recognized by astrologers as "Our System", is composed of planets and asteroids that revolve around the only star that gives the system its name, the Sun.

All the elements that compose it rotate directly or indirectly around the Sun due to the tensions created by the mass of each celestial body. There are many similar systems in the Universe, but this is the one that interests us since we depend on it to survive.

In this article We will see which are the planets of the Solar System.

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How is the Solar System formed?

It should be noted that the Solar System It was formed about 4.6 billion years ago as a result of a gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud. This phenomenon led to the formation of other billions of stars that, according to experts, the number is unknown.

Among the main elements that give shape and life to the Solar System, we also find minor planets, dust, interstellar gas, satellites and asteroids. All this belongs to the famous Milky Way, formed in turn by hundreds of billions of stars. Our Solar System, then, is located in one of those arms of the Way, called Orion.

Main features

The bodies that give form and life to the Solar System are the Sun, which accounts for 99% of the total mass of the system and with a diameter of 1,500,000 kilometers, and the planets, divided into two types called interior and exterior. It should be noted that the outer planets are surrounded by a ring. The dwarf planets, which are in another category of those already mentioned above, include celestial bodies such as Pluto or Eris.

Satellites are another important element, since they are larger bodies that orbit large planets such as Jupiter or Planet Earth, whose only satellite is the Moon.

On the other hand we find its little brothers, the smaller bodies, which are concentrated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids, frozen objects, liquids, gases, comets, cosmic dust and meteoroids represent the rest of the elements for the Solar System to take shape.

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The three categories

To better understand this system, scientific astronomers have decided to establish a classification of three categories of the Solar System that explain the formation of the same.

First category

In this category are the 8 planets that make up the Solar System. The terrestrial planets are Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. The exteriors or giants (already mentioned in the previous point) are Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn. Here all the planets have satellites that orbit around them.

Second category

Here are the so-called dwarf planets. This is a celestial body in orbit around the Sun, spherical in shape but without sufficient mass to clear the vicinity of its orbit. Here is the reason for its nomenclature. The planets that make up this second category are: Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Pluto and Eris.

Third category

In this category reside the so-called "minor bodies of the Solar System", which are all the remaining objects orbiting the Sun: are asteroids (composed of amorphous forms), Kuiper belt objects, meteoroids and icy comets.

The planets of the solar system

As we have described in the previous points, the planets of the Solar System are the ones that make up the most important part of its complex composition. Next, we will delve into each of them in more detail.

1. Mercury

We start with this planet as it is the closest to the Sun, apart from being the smallest of its counterparts. It has a resemblance to the Earth, because its composition is 70% metallic elements and the remaining 30% corresponds to silicates. In addition, as with the Moon, Mercury has a large number of meteorite impacts.

2. Venus

Venus is up to ranked number two in terms of distance from the Sun. Within the Planets of the Solar System, Venus is often referred to as the planet "brother of the Earth ”due to its similarity, both in size and mass and its composition of terrestrial type and rocky.

3. Land

Planet Earth, our planet, is the largest of the so-called rocky planets. It was formed about 4.6 billion years ago and its name comes from the Latin "Terra", a Greek deity that corresponds to femininity and fecundity. 71% of its composition corresponds to the hydrosphere (water), a differential fact that has allowed the existence and persistence of human life. No other planet in the Solar System contains such a level of liquid.

4. Mars

Mars is the second smallest of the planets in the Solar System, after Mercury. For a long time it has been commonly known as the "red planet", fruit of the reddish color that it acquires due to iron oxide on most of its surface. Its size is almost half that of the Earth and its gravity 40% less, which makes it practically uninhabitable according to the latest NASA research.

5. Jupiter

The Planet of the Solar System that receives its name from the God Zeus of Greek mythology (Jupiter in Roman mythology) is, preceded by the Sun, the planet with the largest celestial body. It is 1,300 times larger than Earth. As a massive gaseous body, its composition is basically made up of hydrogen and ice. As a curiosity, It is considered the oldest planet in the Solar System, preceding the Sun inclusive.

6. Saturn

This planet in the Solar System is famous for its imposing brightness from its rings that surround the planet. Returning to Galileo, he first sighted it in 1610. Virtually the entire planet (96%) is made up of hydrogen and the remaining 3% ice.

7. Uranus

This planet is considered the first to be discovered using a telescope. Its composition is very similar to that of its brothers Saturn and Jupiter, since it is made up of helium and hydrogen, as well as water, ammonia and methane, but in larger quantities. A peculiarity of this planet in the Solar System is its atmosphere, with the lowest temperatures in the entire System, reaching a minimum of -224 degrees Celsius.

8. Neptune

Neptune was discovered about two centuries ago by Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch and Johann Galle, back in the year 1847. However, some historians and astronomers argue that the famous Galileo Galilei already observed this planet around the year 1612, data not yet confirmed. The planet Neptune is made up of molten rock, water, methane, hydrogen, ice, and liquid ammonia.

Bibliographic references:

• Giancoli, C. D. (2007). "Circular motion and gravitation". In Pearson Education. Physics: Principles with Applications (Sixth Edition). Mexico DF. pp. 125-126.
• Sukyoung Yi; Pierre Demarque; Yong-Cheol Kim; Young-Wook Lee; Chang H. Ree; Thibault Lejeune; Sydney Barnes (2001). Toward Better Age Estimates for Stellar Populations: The Y2 Isochrones for Solar Mixture. Astrophysical Journal Supplement 136: pp. 417-437.