Universe at a glance ...... 

Sun

•          The Sun is a star that is in the center of the Solar System

•          The Sun is recognized as having the largest mass in our Solar System.

•          It has a diameter of about 1,392,684 km, about 109 times that of Earth

•          The sun is the closest star to Earth, at a mean distance from our planet of

149.60 million km

•          Sun fuses 620 million metric tons of hydrogen each second.

•          At the core, the temperature is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15

million degrees Celsius)

•          In February 1974, Skylab was the first manned spacecraft to study the Sun.

•          Solar flares occur when magnetic fields of the Sun come together and

cause huge explosions on the Sun’s surface.

•          Solar flares produce bursts of electromagnetic radiation, x-rays, ultraviolet

radiation, visible light, and radio waves.

 

Mercury

•          Mercury is the closest and second smallest in the Solar System.

•          Mercury is the second densest planet after Earth.

•          The only visit to Mercury was a flyby made by the Mariner 10 spacecraft in

1974.

•          Mercury speeds around the sun every 88 days, traveling through space at

nearly 50 km (31 miles) per second

•          Galileo first observed Mercury during the 17th century.

 

Venus

•          Venus is the second closest and sixth largest planet in the Solar System

•          The orbital speed of Venus is 35 km per second.

•          Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System.

•          Venus appears to be the brightest planet in the sky.

•          It takes 244.7 days for Venus to rotate on its axis.

•          The first robotic space probe mission to Venus, and the first to any planet,

began on 12 February 1961, with the launch of the Venera 1 probe.

Earth

•          Earth formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago, and life appeared on its

surface within one billion years.

•          The Earth is the densest planet in the Solar System.

•          Earth is the fifth largest planet in the Solar System.

•          The Diameter of the Earth is 12,756 km (7,926 miles)

•          The earth’s orbital speed is 29.8 km per second.

•          Earth  atmosphere consists of 78 percent nitrogen, 21 percent oxygen and

1 percent other ingredients..

•          Earth rotates about its own axis 366.26 times, creating 365.26 solar days

Moon

•          The Moon is Earth’s lone natural satellite.

•          In 1610, Galileo Galilei is the first to use a telescope to make scientific

observations of the Moon.

•          The Moon is the fifth largest satellite in our Solar System.

•          The Moon’s diameter is 2160 miles (3476 km)

•          Average distance between the Earth and the Moon is about 239,000 miles.

Actual distance varies from 221,457 to 252,712 miles.

•          The Moon’s gravity is 1/6 that of Earth.

•          The Moon does not have an atmosphere; there is no wind on the Moon.

•          Apollo 11 was the American space mission to first reach and land on the

moon.

•          The first human landing on the Moon was on 20 July 1969.

•          The Moon orbits around the Earth every 29 days.

 Mars

•          Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in

the Solar System.

•          iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance, often

described as “ Red Planet”

•          A Mars year is equal to 686.98 Earth Days

•          A day in Mars is equal to 24.6 Earth Hours

•          Like Earth, Mars experiences seasons because of the tilt of its rotational

axis

•          Asaph Hall discovered both of Mars’ moons, Phobos and Deimos, in August

1877.

•          Mariner 4 – first successful flyby mission to Mars. Launched on November

28, 1964 and arrived at Mars on July 14, 1965.

•          Viking 1 – Successful orbit and landing on surface of Mars. Launched

August 20, 1975 and arrived at Mars July 20, 1976.

 Jupitar

•          Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is 318 times larger than

Earth.

•          The orbital speed of Jupiter is 13.1 km/sec

•          A year on Jupiter is equal to 11.9 Earth Years

•          Jupiter has 67 natural satellites.[105] Of these, 51 are less than 10

kilometres in diameter and have only been discovered since 1975.

•          Galileo Galilei  had discovered Jupiter's four largest moons, now called Io,

Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. These four moons are known today as the

Galilean satellites.

•          In 1610, Galileo Galilei makes the first detailed observations of Jupiter.

•          Jupiter's moon Ganymede is the biggest satellite in solar system

•          Jupiter has rings, the third planet discovered to have a ring system in our

Solar System.

•          Jupiter’s rings are identified as: Halo ring, Main ring, Amalthea gossamer

ring, and Thebe gossamer ring.

•          Jupiter’s rings were discovered by Voyager 1 in 1979.

 Saturn

•          Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest.

•          Saturn has 62 known moons, fifty-three have been named. Most of them

are small in size.

•          Names of some of Saturn’s moons: the largest is Titan, discovered in 1655;

Tethys, Dione, Rhea, & Iapetus, discovered from 1671 to 1672; Mimas &

Enceladus, discovered in 1789; and Hyperion, discovered in 1848.

•          A year on Saturn is equal to 29.5 Earth Years

•          Pioneer 11 is the first spacecraft to reach Saturn, in 1979

•          Saturn has a prominent ring system that consists of nine continuous main

rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a

smaller amount of rocky debris and dust.

 Uranus

•          The orbital speed of Uranus is 6.6 km/sec

•          Uranus takes 84 Earth years to complete one orbit.

•          Uranus is the third largest planet in the Solar System.

•          Voyager 2, the only spacecraft to visit Uranus,

•          A day on Uranus is equal to a little more than 17 hours on Earth.

•          Uranus has 27 known moons, named for characters from the works of

William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope

•          Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781

 Neptune

•          Neptune is the fourth largest planet and coolest planet in the Solar System.

•          Neptune was the first planet located through mathematical predictions

rather than through regular observations of the sky.

•          Neptune was discovered by Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch Adams, and

Johann Galle on September 23, 1846.

•          The only spacecraft ever to visit Neptune was Voyager 2 in 1989.

•          The magnetic field of Neptune is about 27 times more powerful than that

of Earth.

•          One Neptune year is equal to 164.83 Earth Years

•          Neptune has six known rings.

•          In 2011, Neptune completes its first 165-year orbit of the sun since its

discovery in 1846.

•          Neptune has 13 moons, the largest of which is named Triton. The other

moons are: Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Nereid, Halimede,

Sao, Laomedeia, Neso, and Psamathe.

 Pluto

•          Pluto is the smallest planet in the Solar System, now consider as dwarf

planet

•          Pluto is colder than Neptune.

•          Pluto’s journey around the Sun takes 248 Earth years.

•          Pluto is the second most contrast body in the Solar System

•          Pluto has not yet been visited by a spacecraft.

•          Pluto has a satellite, Charon, which was discovered (in 1978). The distance

between them is 19,640 km (12,200 miles).The other 3 are Nix,Hydra, and newly

discovered S/2011 P 1 on July of 2011.

•          Pluto rotation (a Pluto day) takes 6.4 Earth days, meaning that it has the

second slowest rotation in the Solar System after Venus

•          Pluto was discovered by Tombaugh in 1930