The planet with the most eccentric orbit in the Solar System is Mercury. The eccentricity for the planet is 0.21 and its distance from the sun ranges from 46-70 million kilometers. It only takes 88 days for Mercury to orbit around the Sun at 47.8 km/sec (29.7 miles/sec). A typical year on Mercury would take […]
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Referred to as the Earth’s twin, Venus is indeed quite similar to our own planet when it comes to composition except for a few significant differences. First off, its total diameter is only 650 km less than that of Earth’s and its mass is about 81.5% of our planet. It is also classified as a
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Speculation over the possibility of life on Mars has continually captured the imagination, as shown by the enduring popularity of novels such as War of the Worlds and the John Carter of Mars series, both of which have either been adapted as, or are set to be adapted as, movies. Unfortunately, the extremely cold temperature
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The second largest planet in the solar system is Saturn. The diameter of the planet measures to about 74,898 miles. That is nine times bigger than the Earth’s diameter. A planet’s diameter is measured from the point of the atmosphere where the pressure is 1 bar. 1 bar is the pressure of Sea Level on
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Much like its contemporary Jupiter, Saturn is made up of mostly hydrogen. In fact, this element composes 96% of the planet whilst the remaining 3% is made up of helium and the remaining 1% would be trace amounts of various other chemicals. Scientists believe that this composition matches the primordial elements that were already present
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Jupiter was the king of the gods in Roman mythology, so it is appropriate that this was the name given to the largest planet in our Solar System. Jupiter’s mass is two and a half times all of the other planets combined. Its density, however, is only one-fourth that of Earth. The reason for its
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The mass of Pluto is less than .024 percent than that of earth (1.31×10_22 kg). That is roughly seven times (.0021) the mass of Earth. Its diameter is 2,390 km, which is relatively smaller than that of the Earth’s moon. The density on Pluto ranges from 1.8 to 2.1 grams per centimeter cubed. The gravity
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Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun and is also the smallest in our Solar System. It is also considered to be a rocky or terrestrial planets and its interior composition is said to be similar to that of our own planet. The planet’s core is actually made up of liquid metal which is
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The only planet whose center of mass in relation to the Sun lies outside the volume of the Sun is Jupiter. The mean distance from the Sun to Jupiter is 778,000,000 kilometers. It takes Jupiter 11.86 years to orbit around the Sun, so a typical year on Jupiter is 11.86 Earth years. This forms a
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Earth is the most unique planet in the Solar System because it is the only one that can support life as we know it. Its dense atmosphere serves to protect life on Earth by filtering harmful ultra-violet rays from hitting the surface and vaporizing most meteors before they can strike. In addition, the planet’s average
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