Our solar system is a relatively recent discovery, for a long time it was thought that our planet was at the centre of the Universe and that it did not move. No one person can be credited with it’s discovery because many philosophers and scientists have made discoveries over the years which have resulted in what we understand today. The earliest records of the idea of the Earth moving around the Sun and came from Greek mathematician and astronomer Aristarchus of Samos nearly 2300 years ago. Even today however more is being learned about our solar system through the use of modern technology.
Planets
Our solar system consists of the Sun and anything that orbits it. Eight planets orbit the sun and ordered from closest to furthest away they are named Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. No planet other than Earth has been found to contain any living organisms.
In addition to these eight planets there are five “dwarf planets” which are just like planets, only they are of lower mass. These are, Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake and Eris. Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006 when scientists reclassified it as a dwarf planet.
Six of the eight planets have moons, or “natural satellites”. They are divided into two groups, the four planets closer to the Sun are known as “Inner Planets” and the other four as “Outer Planets”
The four inner planets don’t have rings around them, are solid and dense and either have only one moon or none at all. Of these four planets, three of them (Earth, Venus and Mars) have atmospheres that are strong enough to generate weather. The outer planets are much more massive than the inner, it is thought that they make up roughly 99% of the mass to orbit our Sun. Jupiter and Saturn are much larger than the Earth and are made up of Hydrogen and Helium – Uranus and Neptune are much smaller than Earth, but all four are known as “gas giants”. All four of the gas giant have rings of dust or debris surrounding them, but Saturn’s is much more substantial the other’s and can be seen from Earth.
The Sun
Sun With Solar Flare
The Sun is our solar system’s only star. It is roughly 333,000 times the mass of the Earth but it’s diameter is only 109 times larger and is just under 150 million kilometers away from Earth. It is roughly 75% hydrogen and most of the rest is helium. The Sun is 4.57 billion years old, approximately halfway through the time it will spend as a main sequence star, in another 5 billion years, the Earth will become a red giant and then as it cools will become what is known as a white dwarf.
The Sun provides the earth with sunlight, which is vital for life.