Satellite News

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Solar System

Solar System Facts

  • The solar system is around 4.6 billion years old.
  • There are eight major planets and over 100 moons in the solar system.
  • Other objects in the solar system include dwarf planets, asteroids and comets.
  • Many bodies in the solar system are visible to the naked eye.
  • Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the small rocky planets. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are the gas giants.
  • The sun is by far the largest object in the solar system.
  • All the planets orbit the sun in an eliptical, oval shaped path.
  • The solar system is in the galaxy known as “The Milky Way”.
  • Astronomers have found many other stars in our galaxy which have planets orbiting around them. There are around 200 billion stars in the milky way.
  • The Voyager 1 spacecraft is the furthest man-made object in the solar system, it is around 10.5 billion miles (17 billion km) from the sun and is still sending data back to Earth.

Solar System Statistics

  • Diameter of the Solar System: Unknown (possibly 2 to 3 light years)
  • Distance from center of Galaxy: 25,000 light years
  • Orbital Period: 250 million years
  • Age: 4.6 billion years
  • Number of Planets: 8
  • Number of Dwarf Planets: 5
  • Number of Moons: 173
  • Rocky Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
  • Gas Giants: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
  • Dwarf Planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, MakeMake and Eris
  • Nearest Planet to Sun: Mercury (58 million km)
  • Farthest Planet from Sun: Neptune (4.5 billion km)
  • Farthest Man Made Object from Sun: Voyager 1 (17 billion km)
  • Largest Planet: Jupiter (Diameter 142,984 km)
  • Smallest Planet: Mercury (Diameter 4,879 km)
  • Largest Moon: Ganymede (Diameter 5,262 km)
  • Smallest Moon: S/2003 J 9 and S/2003 J 12 (Diameter 1 km)
  • Greatest Planetary Gravity: Jupiter (20.87 m/s2)
  • Greatest Planetary Density: Earth (5.515 g/cm3)
  • Greatest Planetary Mass: Jupiter (1.8987 x 1027 kg)
  • Greatest Planetary Volume: Jupiter (1.4255 x 1015 km3)
  • Lowest Planetary Gravity: Mars (3.693 m/s2)
  • Lowest Planetary Density: Saturn (0.7 g/cm3)
  • Lowest Planetary Mass: Mercury (3.3022 x 1023 kg)
  • Lowest Planetary Volume: Mercury (6.08272 x 1010 km3)