Mercury, the smallest planet in the Solar system, is classified as a terrestrial planet along with Earth, Venus, and Mars. The surfaces of these terrestrial planets are composed of silicate rocks and these planets are classified in a group called inner planets. Mercury and other inner terrestrial planets are made up of a metallic core […]
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Mercury is the planet closest to the sun and is the smallest planet in the solar system. It is so small that some natural satellites exceed its size like Jupiter’s Ganymede and Saturn’s Titan. However, Mercury possesses more mass than both Ganymede and Titan. Despite its size, it is only second to Earth in density
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In 2006, Pluto was demoted from a planet to a dwarf planet. It is currently the second biggest dwarf planet known to man in the Solar System (Eris is currently the biggest). From 1930 to 2006, it was believed to be the farthest planet from the Sun and, naturally, Earth. This distance is the reason
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Mars, is considered as the Earth’s closest neighbor, holds quite a few similarities to Earth. These include having volcanoes such as the biggest Olympus Mons, valleys such as the Valles Marineris which stretches 2/3 across the planet (or from New York to LA on Earth) and even deserts. Although the 4th planet from the sun
Venus is the planet that most resembles Earth. Like the Earth, it is a terrestrial planet, which means that it is composed mainly of rocks. The size and the mass of Venus are also close to that of the Earth’s. For these reasons, it is often called Earth’s sister planet or Earth’s twin. However, one
Some astronomers were actually able to view Neptune long ago but they did not realize what they were viewing was a planet. One of these astronomers was Galileo who was able to observe Neptune but was thinking it was only a star. Through the use of telescopes, planets may look like disks while stars look
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Two very small moons orbit around Mars – Phobos and Deimos. These moons are classified as minor satellites, meaning Mars have small moons compared to other planets in the solar system. Besides being small, Phobos and Deimos are also irregularly shaped and resemble asteroids more than moons.
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The largest known planet in the Solar System and also the largest among gas planets, Jupiter is named after the Roman god of the same name who is also known in Roman mythology as the god of all the Roman gods. Jupiter, even without a telescope, is the 3rd brightest object in the night sky
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There were three known moons of Pluto: Charon, Nix and Hydra. At least until July 2011, then another one a year later in 2012 that two additional moons were seen through the Hubble Telescope. The two newly discovered moons are natural satellites. That brings the total moons of Pluto to five. The dwarf planet was
Is there one person who was credited to the discovery of Mars? Strictly speaking, no one actually discovered Mars. Or, rather, there is no specific person who pointed out that Mars existed. Out of the seven other planets in the solar system, five is visible from the Earth. These five—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn—have been
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