How many planet
in solar system

What is the solar system and how many planet in solar system

NASA (2024) says the solar system consists of eight planets, five dwarf planets, at least 290 satellites (moons), more than 1.3 million asteroids, and about 3,900 comets. The solar system is made up of our star, the Sun, and all objects that are gravitationally bound to it, which includes the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune; the dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, Makemake, Haumea, and Eris; hundreds of moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Pluto was formerly recognized as the ninth planet, but in 2006 the International Astronomical Union voted to declare it as a dwarf planet.

About eight planets –

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and so on are the planets in the solar system, ordered from nearest to the sun away.

1. Mercury – Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system and the planet nearest to the sun. It is not much bigger than the moon of Earth. With a massive metallic core that is between 2,200 and 2,400 miles (3,600 and 3,800 kilometers) wide, it is the second densest planet after Earth. Mercury is 74,797,000 km2 in surface area, with a radius of approximately 2,440 km. It has 3.30 x 1023 kg of mass. Mercury is the fastest planet in the solar system, completing one circle every 88 Earth days at an average distance of 58 million kilometers (36 million miles). As the god of speed Mercury was the fastest of the ancient Roman gods, the name makes sense.

2. Venus – Venus is the sixth biggest planet and the second planet from the Sun. In our solar system, it is the hottest and brightest planet. The masses, sizes, densities, and relative positions of Venus and Earth within the solar system are similar. Additionally, their general chemical compositions are probably comparable. Venus has been referred to as Earth’s twin because of these similarities. Venus is a stony planet rather than a gaseous one. Venus has a rocky mantle and an iron core that are comparable in composition to Earth’s. However, carbon dioxide (96%) and nitrogen (3.5%) make up the majority of Venus’s hellish atmosphere, with the remaining 0.5% consisting of trace amounts of carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, water vapor, argon, and helium. Venus’s mass is 4.87 × 1024 kg, or 81.5 percent that of Earth and its mean radius is 6,051.8 km (3,760.4 miles), or almost 95% of Earth’s at the Equator.

3. Earth – Earth, our home planet, is the only planet in our solar system having liquid water on its surface, but only being the fifth largest planet overall. Not much bigger than the neighboring Venus. About 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system’s planets, including Earth, came into life. The diameter of the Earth is approximately 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers). the Earth is actually a “oblate spheroid.” Two characteristics that set our planet apart are the amount of water and oxygen that are readily available. The majority of the water on Earth is found in its oceans, making up around 71% of the planet’s surface. Oxygen, which is created by plants, makes up over 25% of the atmosphere of Earth. The planet Earth is the only one with a single moon. The average distance between Earth and the Moon is 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers). It means that thirty planets the size of Earth might fit between the Earth and its moon.
   NASA’s statistics on Earth’s orbit –

• The average distance in miles from the sun is 92,956,050. (149,598,262 km).
• The solar day is 23.934 hours long (one spin on its axis).
• A year is made up of 365.26 days in a single rotation around the sun.

4. Mars – Mars is an icy desert planet. Mars has an average temperature that is far below freezing, at minus 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Its size is just half that of Earth. One term for Mars is the Red Planet. The ground’s rusty iron is the reason it’s red. Mars features canyons, volcanoes, polar ice caps, seasons, and weather just like Earth. Its atmosphere is extremely thin and primarily composed of nitrogen, argon, and carbon dioxide. For humans to breathe, the air on Mars would be too poisonous. At its closest point, Mars is less than 56 million kilometers (35 million miles) from Earth. Slightly larger than Mercury and slightly larger than half the size of Earth, Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system. The average polar radius is 3,379 km (2,100 miles), while its equatorial radius is 3,396 km (2,110 miles). Mars has two moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos. Many missions, including InSight, MAVEN, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and many more, have circled, touched down, or roved around Mars! On Mars, a day has 24.6 hours. It is slightly longer than an Earthly day. On Mars, a year is equal to 687 Earth days. It runs nearly twice as long as an Earthly year.

5. Jupiter –The fifth planet from the Sun. Jupiter is the name of the Roman god who ruled across that era. It looks a star, yet it was never large enough to light up. Stripes of swirling cloud surround it. It is a gas giant, Jupiter. The main components of it are helium and hydrogen. Jupiter’s atmosphere is extremely dense. Although Jupiter has rings, they are incredibly elusive. On Jupiter, a day takes for just ten hours. On Jupiter, a year is equivalent to 11.8 Earth years. Officially, Jupiter has 95 moons. The solar system’s largest planet is Jupiter. Its equatorial diameter is approximately 88,900 miles, or 143,000 km. Jupiter orbits the sun at a distance of roughly 483,682,810 miles (778,412,020 kilometers) on average. That is 5.203 times further away from the sun than the average distance of Earth. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter is a whirling vortex that rotates counterclockwise in the planet’s southern hemisphere, making it an anticyclone in theory. Jupiter has at least 79 moons and a weak ring system.

6. Saturn – The first person to view Saturn with a telescope was the Italian astronomer Galileo in 1610. Our solar system’s second largest planet, Saturn, is located six planets away from the Sun. Out of all the planets, Saturn stands out due to its brilliant system of ice rings. It has a staggering 145 moons. With a rich atmosphere, liquid lakes, and clouds, Titan is the only moon in the solar system larger than Saturn. In 1655, Christiaan Huygen, a Dutch scientist, made the telescopic discovery itself. Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, will be explored by NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which is scheduled to launch in June 2027. It takes Saturn 1,427,000,000 km (887 million miles) to complete one circle around the Sun. It is approximately 1.2 billion kilometers (746 million miles) from Earth at its nearest point. The majority of Saturn is made of hydrogen and helium. Lovely seven major rings with gaps between them are seen on Saturn. On Saturn, a day takes for only 10.7 hours. On Saturn, a year is equivalent to 29 Earth years. There are 146 moons in Saturn as of June 8, 2023. Saturn has been visited by four robotic spacecraft: Pioneer 11, Cassini, and Voyager 1 and 2. Saturn is the only planet in our solar system whose average density is less than that of water. Saturn would float if you could find a bathtub large enough to hold the gas giant!

7. Uranus – In our solar system, Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Using a telescope, it was the first planet discovered. In 1781, William Herschel, an astronomer, made the discovery of Uranus. Its diameter is 25,362 kilometers. Uranus could fit 63 Earths inside Uranus. An ice giant is Uranus. Above a little rocky core, it consists of dense, “icy” substances, primarily water, methane, and ammonia. There are two rings around Uranus. While the outer rings are blue and red, the interior rings are dark and grey. Rings surround Uranus. It has 13 rings. There are 27 known moons of Uranus. Uranus is almost 19 times farther away from the Sun than Earth, with a typical distance of nearly 2.9 billion km (1.8 billion miles), and it never gets any closer to the planet than 2.7 billion km (1.7 billion miles). On Uranus, a day is slightly more than seventeen hours (17 hours and fourteen minutes, to be accurate). On Uranus, a year is equivalent to 84 years on Earth. A birthday cake takes a lot slower to arrive than that.  83% hydrogen, 15% helium, 2% methane, and other gases make up the atmosphere. Voyager 2 is the only craft to have visited Uranus.

8. Neptune – Huge Neptune, the eighth and closest major planet from our Sun, is a cold, dark, and whipped by supersonic winds planet. More than thirty times the distance of Earth from the Sun. Urbain Le Verrier, Johann Galle, and John Couch Adams made the discovery of Neptune in 1846. Uranus and Neptune are very similar. Hydrogen, helium, and methane make up its atmospheric composition. Neptune’s color is identical to Uranus’s due to methane. Though it’s difficult to understand, Neptune has six rings. An ice giant, Neptune is similar to Uranus. Like a gas giant, that is. A solid core roughly the size of Earth is covered in a viscous soupy mixture of water, ammonia, and methane. In 16 hours, a day passes on Neptune. It takes Neptune 165 Earth years to complete one orbit of the Sun due to its incredibly lengthy orbit. What a difficult year that was! The only aircraft to have landed Neptune is Voyager 2. William Lassell found Triton, Neptune’s largest moon, on October 10, 1846, just 17 days after Galle found the planet. The only large planet that cannot be seen without a telescope is Neptune.