The 8 planets of the Solar System (sorted and with their characteristics)

A summary of the planets of the Solar System, ordered according to their proximity to the Sun.

The Solar System, recognized by astrologers as "Our System", is composed by planets and asteroids that revolve around the single star that gives the system its name, the Sun..

All the elements that compose it rotate directly or indirectly around the Sun because of the tensions created by the mass of each celestial body. There are many similar systems in the Universe, but this is the one that interests us because we depend on it to survive.

In this article we will see which are the planets of the Solar System.

How is the Solar System formed?

It should be noted that the Solar System was formed about 4.6 billion years ago as a result of a gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud.. This phenomenon led to the formation of billions of other stars, the number of which, according to experts, is unknown.

Among the main elements that give shape and life to the Solar System, we also find minor planets, dust, interstellar gas, satellites and asteroids. All of these belong to the famous Milky Way, which in turn is made up of hundreds of billions of stars. Our Solar System is located in one of these arms of the Milky Way, called Orion.

Main characteristics

The bodies that give shape and life to the Solar System are the Sun, which accounts for 99% of the total mass of the system and has a diameter of 1,500,000 kilometers, and the planets, which are divided into two parts.and the planets, divided into two types called inner and outer planets. It should be noted that the outer planets are enveloped by a ring. The dwarf planets, which are in another category of those mentioned above, include celestial bodies such as Pluto or Eris.

Satellites are another important elementThey are larger bodies that orbit large planets such as Jupiter or Planet Earth, whose only satellite is the Moon.

On the other hand we find their smaller brothers, the minor bodies, which are concentrated in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroids, icy objects, liquids, gaseous objects, comets, cosmic dust and meteoroids represent the rest of the elements for the Solar System to take shape.

The three categories

To better understand this system, scientific astronomers have decided to establish a three-category classification of the Solar System. a classification of three categories of the Solar System that explain the formation of the Solar System.

First category

In this category are the 8 planets that make up the Solar System. The terrestrial planets are Earth, Mars, Venus and Mercury. The outer or giant planets (already mentioned in the previous point) are Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter and Saturn. Here all the planets have satellites orbiting around them.

Second category

Here are the so-called dwarf planets. This is a celestial body in orbit around the Sun, spherical in shape but without sufficient mass to clear the immediate vicinity of its orbit.. This is the reason for its nomenclature. The planets that form this second category are: Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Pluto and Eris.

Third category

In this category reside the so-called "minor bodies of the Solar System", which are all the remaining objects orbiting the Solar System. are all the remaining objects orbiting around the SunThese are the asteroids (composed of amorphous forms), objects of the Kuiper belt, meteoroids and icy comets.

The planets of the Solar System

As we have described in the previous points, the planets of the Solar System are the most important part of its complex composition. Next, we will go deeper into each one of them in a more detailed way.

1. Mercury

We start with this planet as it is the closest to the Sun, besides being the smallest of its counterparts. It has a resemblance to the Earth, since its composition is 70% of metallic elements and the remaining 30% corresponds to silicates.. In addition, as with the Moon, Mercury has a large number of meteorite impacts.

2. Venus

Venus is the number two position in terms of distance from the Sun.. Among the planets of the Solar System, Venus is often referred to as the "brother planet of the Earth" due to its similarity in size and mass and its terrestrial and rocky composition.

3. Earth

Planet Earth, our planet, is the largest of the so-called rocky planets. It was formed about 4.6 billion years ago. and its name comes from the Latin "Terra", a Greek deity that corresponds to femininity and fecundity. The 71% of its composition corresponds to the hydrosphere (water), a differential fact that has allowed the existence and persistence of human life. No other planet in the Solar System contains such a level of liquid.

4. Mars

Mars is the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. It has long been commonly known as the "red planet" because of its reddish color.because of the reddish color it acquires due to the iron oxide on most of its surface. Its size is almost half that of the Earth and its gravity is 40% less, which makes it practically uninhabitable according to the latest NASA research.

5. Jupiter

The planet of the Solar System named after the God Zeus in Greek mythology (Jupiter in Roman mythology) is, after the Sun, the planet with the largest celestial body. It is 1,300 times the size of the Earth. As a massive gaseous body, its composition is basically hydrogen and ice. As a curious fact, it is considered the oldest planet in the Solar SystemIt is considered the oldest planet in the Solar System, preceding even the Sun.

6. Saturn

This planet of the Solar System is famous for its imposing brightness coming from its rings that surround the planet. Back to Galileo, he sighted it for the first time in 1610. Almost the entire planet (96%) consists of hydrogen and the remaining 3% of ice. and the remaining 3% of ice.

7. Uranus

This planet is considered to be the first to be discovered by telescope. Its composition is very similar to that of its siblings Saturn and Jupiter, since it is made up of helium and hydrogen, as well as water, ammonia and methane, but in larger quantities. A peculiarity of this planet of the Solar System is its atmosphere, with the lowest temperatures of all the planets in the Solar System.It has the lowest temperatures in the entire system, reaching a minimum of -224 degrees Celsius.

8. Neptune

Neptune was discovered about two centuries ago by Urbain Le Verrier, John Couch and Johann Galle, back in 1847. However, some historians and astronomers claim that the famous Galileo Galilei already observed this planet in 1612, a fact that has not yet been confirmed.This fact is still unconfirmed. The planet Neptune is composed of molten rock, water, methane, hydrogen, ice and liquid ammonia.