The universe is probably 15 billion years old but the estimates vary.

Do you know that your spine stretches in space?With less gravitational force than on Earth,there is less
pressure on your spine so it will get a bit longer,effectively making you about 2 inches taller!
There are more stars in the sky than all of the grains of sand on Earth.
The solar system has 8 planets,yes that's right,only 8 planets.Earlier it was considered that solar system
consisted of 9 planets but in 2006 scientists declared that one of the planet (Pluto) was too small to be
considered as a planet!
About 50 tonnes of space dust and rocks fall to Earth each day .In most cases ,the pieces of rocks from
space fall towards the earth and most of these are destroyed on entry,leaving only fine dust down to Earth.
In space, astronauts cannot cry, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow.
A person of 60 kgs weight barely will weigh only 10 kg on Moon,but 1,680 kg on the Sun.That means
,you would weigh 1/6th of your weight on Moon and 24 times more on the surface of the Sun.This happens due
to gravitational pull at different places.
Sirius (Dog star )is much brighter than the sun. In fact, no star is as bright as Sirius.
If you shouted in space even if someone was right next to you they wouldn't be able to hear you as
there is no air to carry your message .
It is impossible to snore while sleeping in the weightlessness of space.
A light year is the distance that light travels in a year .
Galileo was the first scientist to look at the night sky through a telescope.

All about Solar System ,Planets

What is Solar System ?

The Sun, its planets and all the objects moving around them collectively are called Solar
System.

Solar System Facts Video

If you are having problems remembering the planets in their correct order, just remember this sentence
"My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Naan," Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Neptune.
Origin of some celestial words :Planet word comes from Greek word planasthai ;which means to
wander, Satellite word comes from Latin word satelles ;which means attendant, Solar also comes from a Latin
word solaris meaning Sun
The solar system is in a galaxy known as "the milky way".
About 99.86 percent of the mass of the Solar System is made up of the Sun.
The Sun's strong gravitational pull holds Earth and the other planets in place.
The Solar System is entirely dependent on Sun & the Sun is the only member of our solar system which
is self- luminous i.e which has its own light.
Rest of the planets reflect the light received from Sun.
Although Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun but it is not the hottest planet. Venus ,the second
planet from the Sun,is the hottest planet in the Solar system.The reason for this strange happening can be
attributed to the fact that Mercury does not have any atmosphere to maintain the Sun's heat whereas Venus is
surrounded by a thick atmosphere,which is 100 times thicker than atmosphere around the Earth, which prevents
Sun's energy to escape
There were nine planets, until Pluto was downgraded to dwarf planet status in 2006.(Do you know size
of Pluto is even smaller than the USA!)

Its diameter of only 1/4th of the Earth.

It looks bigger to us as it is very close to us. .
The moon has no atmosphere ,so there is huge difference between day & night
temperature. (127 degree C in Day to -173 degree C in Night) .
The moon is drifting away from the earth at a speed of about 5 cm per year.
As there is no atmosphere, there is no weather, no rain, no wind or clouds. .
Like everything else in Solar System, Moon also does not have its own light . It shines
due to Suns light. .
The Moon can be very hot during the day but very cold at night time. The average
surface temperature can go up to 107 degrees Celsius during the day and can touch -153
degrees Celsius at night .
There is no water on its surface. .

Moons gravity is 1/6th of Earth, so your weight would be 1/6th of your weight on the
earth. .
The Moon is the only celestial body other than Earth on which humans have set foot. .
A full moon is nine times brighter than a half moon.
When the moon is directly over your head, you weigh slightly less.
Like the Earth, there are mountains on moon's surface.Mons Huygens is the tallest
mountain on its surface, it is 4700 metres tall which is just over half the height of Mt
Everest (8848m).
Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon as the commander of the
American mission Apollo 11 on 21 July 1969. .

Mars FactsThe Red

Planet
Mars has approximately half the diameter of Earth.
It has two satellites.
The gravity of Mars is half of the earth .
The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen,1.6%
argon and contains some oxygen and water.
Mars also has the largest dust storms in the Solar System.
Mars is named after the Roman god of war.
Mars is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface
gives it a reddish appearance. Actually it's the rusting process on the surface of the Mars
.The dust on Mars's surface contains iron particles ,which combine with the small amount
of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Mars has approximately half the diameter of Earth.
It has two satellites.
The gravity of Mars is half of the earth .
The atmosphere of Mars consists of about 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen,1.6%
argon and contains some oxygen and water.
Mars also has the largest dust storms in the Solar System.
Jupiter FactsThe Giant Planet
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It is named after the Roman god Jupiter (ruler of Roman gods) .

Jupiter is the largest planet within the Solar System.
Let's compare the sizes of Sun ,Jupiter and the Earth if the Sun were the size of a
beach ball,then Jupiter would be a golf ball & the Earth would be like a pea!
It has a great Red Spot, it is rotating storm system inside the planet. This red spot is
also called 'The Eye of the Jupiter'
Jupiter rotates faster than any other planet. .
It completes one rotation in 10 hours.
Jupiter has a faint ring system; these rings appear to be made of dust. .
Jupiter is also known as a stormy planet. There are many storms in its
atmosphere.Different types of storms and cloud formations in Jupiter's atmosphere make it
very colorful planet.
This is also a windy planet as the fast rotation causes high winds. .
It has 16 planets. .

Jupiter is so big that you could fit all the other planets in the solar system inside it.
Jupiter has the shortest day of all the planets. Jupiter manages to make one turn in 9
hours and 55 minutes. It is because it has the fastest rotation speed in Solar system
Jupiter is the solar system's vacuum cleaner, pulling in meteors,dust and comets.It is
because Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field and strongest gravitational pull among all
planets .That is why it pulls and sucks in meteorites,comets and asteroids and thus earning
a name ' vacuum cleaner of solar system'.
On Jupiter ,one would weigh 2.4 times more as compared to earth because gravity
here is higher than the Earth,that means if you weigh 100 pounds on the Earth then on
Jupiter ,it would be 240 pounds .
Do you what are Gossamer, Main and Halo?These are the names of 3 rings ,which
are around Jupiter, but they are very faint and can be viewed only when Jupiter passes in
front of Sun.
Saturn FactsThe Jewel Planet
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar
System, after Jupiter.
It is named after the Roman god Saturn
Saturn is classified as a gas giant planet
It has 22 known satellites.
It can be seen by naked eye
Saturn is 95 times heavier than earth
It takes Saturn 10,759 Earth days (or about 29 years), to finish one revolution
around the Sun.
Saturn is the furthest planet from Earth that can be seen without the help of a
telescope.
Saturn has such a low density that it would float if put in water!
Saturn is the second biggest planet, but it's also the lightest planet.
Saturn's rings are made of many pieces of rocks & ice.
Saturn has the greatest number of known moons of any planet in the solar system.
Uranus Facts A planet on its side
Uranus appears to lie on its side.
Uranus is named after the Roman god of the sky. .
Uranus is the only planet, which rotates on its axis from east to west. .
Uranus has at least ten thin uniform black rings, which are made of dust. .
Uranus has 27 known satellites.
Uranus is a very cold planet, it is also known as Ice Giant . it receives 370 times less
sunlight than Earth as it is far away from sun as compared to Earth.
Its core is very rocky.
Uranus has at least ten thin uniform black rings ,which are made of dust. .
It has 27 known satellites.
Uranus is a very cold planet ,it receives 370 times less sunlight than Earth as it is far
away from sun as compared to Earth. .
Uranus is tilted in such a way that a season lasts there for 20 years.
Uranus appears greenish in color,it happens because methane gas present on the
planet that absorbs the reddish colours from the sunlight .

Neptune Facts The Last Giant

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Neptune can neptune be seen with naked eye.

Neptune has 8 known satellites.
As Neptune is very far from Sun, it completes an orbit on average every 164.79 years.
The average distance between Neptune and the Sun is 4.50 billion km.
Neptune was the first planet found by mathematical prediction.
Neptune is known to be the coldest planet in Solar system, also it has slowest
revolution speed in solar system.
There is a large white cloud in Neptune's atmosphere, that moves around rather
quickly.It has been named Scooter due to its scooting around the atmosphere.
Neptune is very similar to Uranus although smaller,hence it can be considered as its
twin.
Compiled by R.Ravndharan ,Hyderabad
Sun is the heaviest among solar system.If we take total mass of whole solar system ,the Sun would be
99.86% of the total.
Sun is a ball of hot,burning gases.
Sun is the nearest star to the earth.
If we assume the Sun's diameter equal to the height of an average human adult ,then Jupiter will be
about the size of its head and our Earth will be equivalent to the iris of the eyeball.
Sun is the source of all energy for life on Earth.
About three quarters of the Sun's mass consists of hydrogen, while the rest is mostly helium.
On the Sun's surface ,there are dark patches known as sunspots. These are patches of gas that looks
dark since they are cooler than their surroundings.
The sun is considered to have four layers although there is no clear boundary between these
layers.These are Corona,Chromosphere,Photosphere and the Core.
The light from the Sun takes approximately 8 minutes 20 seconds to reach the Earth.
It takes about 1.25 seconds for moonlight to reach the Earth whereas sunlight reaches the earth in 8
minutes 19 seconds,so you can judge how close moon is to us & how far sun is from earth
At the surface of the sun,the temperature is about 6000 degree Celsius but near the center of the sun
,the temperature is about 15 to 20 million degree celcius.

Planets Facts :The

Sun's

Family

Planet word comes from Greek ,which means wandering star.

Planets are heavenly bodies ,which revolve around the Sun in elliptical orbits.
All planets fall in 2 groups,inner planets and outer planets.Mercury , Venus, Mars and Earth are called
inner planets.Outer Planets: These are Jupiter , Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Between Inner & Outer Planets,there is a ring of small bodies,which are made of rock & metal,these are
called Asteroids. They also keep moving around the Sun .This ring is also called Asteroids Belt.
There is another way of grouping the planets:inferior and superior planets.Mercury and Venus are called
inferior planets as they lie closer to the Sun than the Earth.All other planets which have their orbits outside the
Earth's orbit are called superior planets.

Mercury : Inner Most Planet

Mercury is named after messenger of the Roman gods.

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun.
Mercury has large variations of temperature during 24 hours.In day -time it is about 400 degree C
whereas in the night time it falls down to -180 degree C.
Mercury is also the smallest planet,and its orbit is the most not fully circular.
Mercury does not have any satellite.
There is no water or atmosphere on Mercury.
Mercury can be seen with naked eyes.
Mercury is the swiftest planet. A year at Mercury is of 88 days as it takes Mercury 88 days to orbit the
sun, so Mercury has shortest year among all planets

There are no seasons on Mercury's surface

Venus Facts: The Veiled Planet

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Venus is surrounded by thick cloud cover ,that is why it is called "Veiled Planet".
Venus is brightest & hottest planet.It is the brightest object in the night sky after the moon.
Venus is named after Roman goddess of love & beauty .Sometimes it is also referred as a ' Planet of
Romance'.
Venus orbits the Sun once in about 225 Earth days.
Venus reaches its maximum brightness shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset,so it is also known
as the Morning Star or Evening Star.
Venus is also known as "Sister " or "Twin" planet to earth because of its similar size & mass to earth.
Venus is the brightest planet in our sky and can sometimes be seen with the naked eye if you know
where to look. It is also the brightest planet.
Venus is covered by thick clouds ,so it reflects lot of sunlight making it brightest planet.Also it is the
hottest planet of solar system
Although Venus is the 2nd planet from the sun,it is the hottest because it has a dense atmosphere
made up of so-called 'greenhouse gases'.The surface of Venus is very hostile.If the heat did not get you ,then
weight of the thick atmosphere would crush you.And,if you survived that,you would be dissolved by sulphuric
acid rain!
Venus rotates so slowly that its one typical day lasts approximately 244 Earth days (5,856 hours). It has
the slowest rotation in solar system

Earth Facts The Blue Planet

It is also known as watery planet, because 70% of its surface is covered by water. .
It reflects about 1/3rd of sunlight it receives.The earths atmosphere scatters the light & creates a blue
effect, so it is also called Blue Planet. .
It is the only planet having life. .
It orbits the Sun once in about 365 Earth days. .
It rotates about its own axis, thus creating day & night. It takes 24 hours to do that. .
It revolves around sun, due to its tilt, seasons are created. .
Due to gravity, the layer of gases remains attached to it (which is known as atmosphere), it prevents too
much heat or UV rays from Sun reaching earth.
Moon is the only satellite of the Earth. .