Earth’s atmosphere protects us from meteoroids and radiation from the Sun.
There have been more missions to Mars than any other planet.
Saturn is the flattest planet.
Saturn has 150 moons and smaller moonlets.[All are frozen worlds. The largest moons are Titan and Rhea. Enceladus appears to have an ocean below its frozen surface.]
Saturn was known to the ancients, including the Babylonians and Far Eastern observers.[It is named for the Roman god Saturnus, and was known to the Greeks as Cronus.]
Saturn has more moons than any other planet in the Solar System.
Uranus has only been visited by a single spacecraft, Voyager 2.
It takes like more than 4 hours for light to reach Neptune from the Sun.
Only 8 planets have been discovered in our solar system but there is compelling evidence for a 9th planet.
With the exception of Neptune and Uranus the other 6 planets can be seen unaided and all 8 are visible with a small telescope or binoculars.
Together the planets make up 0.14% of the solar systems mass, 99% of which is the gas giants [Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune].
Except for the Earth, the planets are named after gods from Roman and Greek mythology.
On Earth, Asia Continent is covered 30% of the total earth land area, but represent 60% of the world’s population.
Mercury does not have any moons or rings.
Mercury is the smallest planet.
A year on Venus takes 225 Earth days.
The surface temperature on Venus can reach 471 °C.
Venus rotates in the opposite direction to most other planets. [This means that Venus is rotating in the opposite direction to the Sun, this is also known as a retrograde rotation. One possible reason for this might be a collision with an asteroid or other object.]
Sunsets on Mars are blue.[During the martian day the sky is pinkish-red, this is the opposite of the Earth’s skies.]
The ancient Babylonians were the first to record their sightings of Jupiter.[This was around the 7th or 8th century BC. Jupiter is named after the king of the Roman gods. To the Greeks, it represented Zeus, the god of thunder. The Mesopotamians saw Jupiter as the god Marduk and patron of the city of Babylon. Germanic tribes saw this planet as Donar, or Thor.]
Eight spacecraft have visited Jupiter.
Jupiter has more than double the mass of all the other planets combined.
Saturn is the most distant planet that can be seen with the naked eye.
Uranus makes one trip around the Sun every 84 Earth years.
Uranus hits the coldest temperatures of any planet.[With minimum atmospheric temperature of -224°C]
Neptune is named after the Roman god of the sea.
A year on Neptune lasts 165 Earth years.
The atmosphere of Neptune is made of hydrogen and helium, with some methane.[The methane absorbs red light, which makes the planet appear a lovely blue. High, thin clouds drift in the upper atmosphere.]