Solar System
Geography · सौर मंडल · 22 facts
Sun's age: about 4.6 billion years. It is a Yellow Dwarf star.
Sun's light reaches Earth in about 8 minutes 20 seconds
The outermost layer of the Sun visible during a total solar eclipse is called Corona
Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth (sidereal period)
Moon has no atmosphere, no water (small traces found), no light of its own — reflects sunlight
Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the Moon (Apollo 11, July 20, 1969)
Highest point on Moon: Mons Huygens. Moon's gravity is 1/6th of Earth's
Dwarf Planets: Pluto (demoted 2006), Ceres, Eris, Haumea, Makemake
Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. It has 5 moons; largest is Charon.
Asteroids are rocky bodies found mainly in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter
Ceres is the largest asteroid. It is also classified as a dwarf planet.
8 planets in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Hottest planet = Venus (due to greenhouse effect, not Mercury)
Largest planet = Jupiter, Smallest = Mercury
Fastest rotation = Jupiter (10 hrs), Slowest = Venus (243 days)
Most moons = Saturn (146), then Jupiter (95)
Venus & Uranus rotate clockwise (retrograde rotation)
Mercury & Venus have NO moons
Earth is 3rd from Sun, called Blue Planet (71% water)
Mars = Red Planet, has Olympus Mons (tallest mountain in solar system)
Saturn is least dense — can float on water (theoretically)
Pluto demoted to dwarf planet in 2006 by IAU