The largest planet in the solar system. Planets in the Galaxy

Space holds many mysteries. With the naked eye, we can see only a negligible fraction of celestial objects, large and small. In addition to the Earth, other large cosmic bodies also revolve around the Sun. Some of them are much larger than our home planet. What are the largest planets in the solar system?

Diameter: 2,326 km

Opens the list of the largest planets in the solar system. It is the second largest space object after Pluto and the farthest dwarf planet from the Sun. Eris was previously called Xena. For a time, it claimed the title of the tenth planet in the solar system, but in 2006, along with Pluto, it was classified as a dwarf planet. For a long time, Eris was thought to be larger than Pluto, but recent studies by the New Horizons spacecraft have proven that Pluto is still slightly larger than Eris.

The surface of this dwarf planet, like that of Pluto, consists of rocks, ice and methane snow.

Diameter: 2,326 km.

Diameter: 2,326 km

Until recently, he was among the nine planets of the solar system. In 2006, after a long debate, by decision of the International Astronomical Union, he was deprived of the status of an ordinary planet. Now Pluto is considered the largest dwarf planet. It is one of the largest Kuiper Belt objects. Consisting of ice and rocks, Pluto is relatively small. For comparison: its volume is three times less than the volume of the moon. The surface of this dwarf planet is an icy desert covered with many craters. Pluto has five moons: Kerberos, Styx, Hydra, Charon and Nyx.

In 2006, the automatic space station "New Horizons" was launched, the purpose of which is to study Pluto and Charon. The device safely reached the orbit of the planet and transmitted to Earth the collected data and photographs of Pluto and all its satellites.

Diameter: 2,372 km.

Diameter: 4879 km

Takes eighth place in the ranking of the largest planets in the solar system. It is interesting because it is closest to the Sun, so the Mercury year lasts only 88 Earth days. At the same time, the duration of a day on Mercury is 176 Earth days, and all because of the slow rotation of the planet around its axis.

Proximity to the Sun leads to the fact that on the side of the planet facing the sun, the temperature reaches 349.9 ° C.

The surface of Mercury is bleak - it is a lifeless desert, covered with craters of various sizes. The planet has no satellites.

Diameter: 4879 km.

Diameter: 6780 km

In 7th place in the list of the largest planets in the solar system is located. This is one of the planets most studied by people - spacecraft from Earth have visited it more than 30 times. Mars is very interesting. Here is the largest peak in the solar system - Mount Olympus, whose height reaches 27 km. Mars has seasons, just like Earth has polar caps of frozen carbon dioxide and ice. A day here lasts 24 hours and 40 minutes. Mars is one of the most suitable planets for colonization in the future.

Moons of Mars: Deimos and Phobos.

Diameter: 6780 km.

Diameter: 12103 km

Continues the list of the largest planets in the solar system. Named after the Roman goddess of love, Venus, the second planet from the Sun has several more poetic names: the Evening Star and the Morning Star. Venus is not much smaller than Earth. Although it belongs to the earth-like planets, its conditions differ from those of the earth. The atmosphere on the planet is mainly composed of carbon dioxide, and its surface is hidden by huge clouds of sulfuric acid. It is assumed that there is still active volcanic activity on Venus. The surface temperature is 460 °C.

Diameter: 12103 km.

Diameter: 12742 km

On the 5th place in the list of the largest planets in the solar system is. This is one of the most unique planets in the observable universe, on which intelligent life has appeared. Most of the planet (about 70%) is covered with water. Due to its location and a slight inclination of the axis of rotation on the planet, optimal conditions were created for the origin of life.

The Earth has one satellite - the Moon.

Diameter: 12742 km.

Diameter: 49224 km

One of the largest and farthest planets in the solar system from the Sun. This is a huge gas giant, whose mass is 17 times greater than the earth. The planet's atmosphere is made up of helium and hydrogen. At the same time, the core of Neptune is solid, formed from rocks and ice. The planet is interesting in that incredible winds constantly rage on its surface, the speed of which can reach 2100 km / h. Invisible to the naked eye, Neptune was discovered through mathematical calculations.

Neptune is the third largest planet in the solar system. The spacecraft visited it only once. It was Voyager 2, which flew close to the planet in 1989. He made it possible to obtain images of the most powerful cyclones and storms raging on the planet.

Neptune is surrounded by the largest number of satellites - it has 14 of them.

Diameter: 49224 km.

Diameter: 50724 km

The gas giant is a very interesting object of research. It was visited only once by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which transmitted images of Uranus to Earth. In the future, a full-scale study of the planet and its satellites is planned.

Uranus has a ring system and 27 satellites ranging in size from 20 to 1500 km.

Diameter: 50724 km.

Diameter: 116464 km

The second place in the list of the largest planets in the solar system is occupied. Like Uranus with Neptune, it consists of a mixture of various gases, passing at depth into a liquid state. The mass of this gas giant is 95 times the mass of the Earth. Saturn is famous primarily for its rings and a huge number of moons. Today there are 62 of them. Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons, is larger than Mercury. Saturn is one of the most explored giant planets. It was visited by the Pioneer, Voyager and Cassini spacecraft.

Diameter: 116464 km.

Diameter: 139822 km

The gas giant, named after the supreme Roman deity, ranks first in the list of the largest planets in the solar system. Its atmosphere consists of hydrogen, ammonia and methane. The mass of the giant is 2.5 times the mass of all other planets in the solar system. Great storms and storms rage on the surface of Jupiter. One of them, the Great Red Spot, has been observed by scientists for several centuries. Jupiter has about 69 moons. The largest of them are Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.

Diameter: 139822 km.

My sister was lucky - for her birthday she was presented with a real telescope. Of course, it does not increase too much, but is it really that important? I myself for about forty minutes, not looking up, looked at the starry sky. And I even recognized one of the small round spots, which, in fact, is the largest planet in the solar system.

What is the largest planet in the solar system

The largest planet is Jupiter. It is more than 11 times larger than our Earth.


Jupiter also has many more moons than our planet. You and I can only boast of having one single moon.

Jupiter but at the moment they counted already 69 satellites- more than any other planet in the solar system. Of course, I won't list them all. But I will name the most famous ones:

  • Callisto.
  • Ganymede.
  • Europe.

This magnificent four of Jupiter's satellites Galileo discovered, and made it whole 407 years ago.


Why is it difficult to fly to Jupiter

The first reason is that it is located enough far from earth. Distance varies from 588.5 to 968.6 million km. Why such a large spread? The fact is that the planets, revolving around the Sun, cyclically either approach or move away from each other. So in order to fly faster, you need to guess the moment when the planets will be successfully located one relative to the other.


The second problem is landing. Space probes that are sent to explore this space behemoth, can not fine sit on its gas surface. They just need to immerse themselves in the atmosphere - and huge pressure the planet flattens the probe into a cake.

Yes and radiation around Jupiter also strongly interferes with the operation of spacecraft, often leading to severe failures or even large losses of collected data.


However, despite such enormous difficulties, Jupiter and its moons are being carefully studied. Some of moons gas giant attract special attention - there, presumably, there is an ocean, which means it could life is born. It is unlikely that it will be intelligent, but even the very fact of its discovery will let humanity know that we are not alone in space.

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When I was little, I stubbornly believed that the largest planet in the solar system was a large red-yellow ball in its center. Only later, when I entered school, did the teachers explain to me that this "planet" is the main star of our system - the Sun. Such news made me look further for the largest planet in the solar system.


The planet is a giant

If put planets in ascending order of mass, then the list will look like this:

  • Mercury - 3.3 10 ^ 20 kilograms;
  • Mars - 6.4 10 ^ 20 kilograms;
  • Venus - 4.9 10 ^ 21 kilograms;
  • Earth-6.0 10^21 kilograms;
  • Uranium - 8.7 10 ^ 22 kilograms;
  • Neptune - 1.0 10 ^ 23 kilograms;
  • Saturn - 5.7 10 ^ 23 kilograms;
  • Jupiter - 1.9 10^24 kilograms.

As seen , Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system.The diameter of this planet in the thickest part, at the equator, 11 thousand times larger than the diameter of the Earth. Of course, this size is much smaller than the diameter of the Sun, about 10 Jupiter diameters would be equal to the Sun's diameter. In proportion to the size and mass of Jupiter is very large. If you put on the scales (of course, "cosmically" huge) all the planets of the solar system and their satellites and compare their weight with the weight of Jupiter, then Jupiter will easily outweigh all this. Only if make the weight of the planets and their satellites 2.5 times heavier, the scales will balance.


Cause of Jupiter's Huge Size

This planet was formed in the early period of the development of the solar system, like Saturn, during this period more materials (gases) were free to create planets, therefore the size of the planets of that period is simply huge. High temperature + a large number of gas made the planet Jupiter so big. The rest of the planets have much less gas left, so they look unattractive. Also about gases, Jupiter's atmosphere is very dense, so it's difficult to give an accurate estimate of its size. All that humanity can observe now is the clouds of Jupiter and nothing more.


someone bigger

In our solar system, Jupiter is definitely a giant, but there are other systems where gas giants are closer to the star than Jupiter is to the Sun, so the temperature of these giants is higher, which means that the size exceeds the size of Jupiter. WithThe largest planet known to mankind is TRES-4.


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A couple of years ago, my son returned from school with the question: “How many planets are there in the solar system?”. Recently it turned out that Pluto is no longer considered a planet. Like, it's too small. Needless to say, this controversy continues to this day. Fortunately, there is no doubt about the largest planet in the solar system.


The largest planet in the solar system

Jupiter is often referred to as a gas giant. It is the fifth planet in order from the Sun. Its diameter is about 143 thousand kilometers. Thus Jupiter is almost 11 times the size of Earth. Jupiter is so large that its mass is two and a half times the combined mass of all the other planets in our galaxy. It is one of the few planets that can be viewed without a telescope. That is why people in ancient times knew about the existence of this giant space object, just like about the Sun, Moon and Venus. By pointing a small telescope towards Jupiter, we will see an impenetrable layer of clouds 4 thousand kilometers thick and among them a characteristic feature - a large red spot. First time I saw him in 1665 French astronomer Giovanni Cassini. Its size is comparable to the diameter of the planet Earth. The active movement of gases in the atmosphere of Jupiter occurs under the influence of winds, the speed of which reaches 600 kilometers per hour.


Diamond in the center of Jupiter

Scientists believe that under a thick layer of fast-moving clouds, at a depth of about 40 thousand kilometers, is in a stationary state the core of the planet. Nothing is known about its chemical and physical parameters. There is a hypothesis that under enormous pressure and temperature, the core could have formed either in the form of petrified hydrogen with the properties of a metal, or in the form of coal with all the properties of a diamond. Can anyone imagine a diamond is three times the size of the earth?

Rings and moons of Jupiter

Jupiter has rings like that of Saturn. Despite the fact that the total width of the rings is about 6 thousand kilometers, few people know about them. In addition to all of the above, expressively answers the question of which planet is the largest in the solar system, the fact that Jupiter has 67 moons. The largest of them are:

  • Europe;
  • Ganymede;
  • Callisto.

Solar System Vacuum Cleaner

The presence of a large number of satellites is due to the fact that Jupiter creates very strong attraction field. Therefore, this planetary ball can be called a vacuum cleaner of the solar system. Numerous asteroids and comets are sucked into Jupiter's atmosphere. Thus, these space objects no longer pose a threat to planet Earth and humanity.

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The giant of the solar system

Everyone knows that largest planet - Jupiter. Due to the fact that it is possible to observe it almost all night, the planet has been known since ancient times. "Mulu Babbar"- that is what the representatives of the ancient culture of Mesopotamia called it, which means "star-sun". A significant breakthrough in the study of this planet occurred only by the middle of the 17th century.. He became first celestial body to have moons, but this discovery was made by the great Galileo. This is truly a giant among the planets, but is it a planet?


planet or star

Some of the scientists of the beginning of the last century believed that the giant radiates own light, and some of its characteristics like the sun:

  • consists of hydrogen;
  • emits x-rays;
  • emits radio waves;
  • has a huge magnetic field.

Observational astronomers immediately noticed that all of the above characterizes the stars but not planets. Therefore, the question arose: maybe this is not a planet, but a star? Jupiter found a small nuclear energy emitter, but science says otherwise: the planet should not have anything like this. Indeed, the planets reflect rays and energy, while the stars themselves generate both. And what is most interesting is that the outgoing energy significantly exceeds that which it transmits to the planet The sun.


Another important point is the huge energy generation rate, which indicates that, in fact, the planet "warming up". Observations made it possible to establish that due to the gigantic mass, the planet absorbs particles "solar wind". With an increase in the number of captured particles, the mass of the planet itself increases, which is one of the main conditions for turning into a star.


Scientists estimate that after about 2 billion years Jupiter will overtake the Sun in mass, which will cause binary solar system.

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In April of this year, I observed in the starry sky one very bright object, lighting in my city is practically absent at night, so I was able to see well largest an object in the solar system after the luminary itself - Jupiter. And it is not at all surprising that it was so clearly visible to the naked eye, because this the planet is superior our weight earth a little more than 300 once. Accordingly, when she is at the point of opposition, the light she reflects outshines even Sirius.


The largest planet in the solar system - Jupiter and its origin

Jupiter located at a sufficient distance from the Sun so that it would be difficult for mankind to study it, and the atmosphere there is unfriendly, after all gas giant, somehow. Ammonia showers hardly contribute to a comfortable immersion in the environment of any terrestrial device, especially since there is also no solid surface. No, it is quite possible that somewhere very deep there is core, but hydrocarbon life does not exist there. planet formed due to large-scale phenomena, a series of chemical reactions and, probably, gravitational collapse, which marked the beginning of our system. Structurally Jupiter consists of:

  1. multi-layered atmosphere.
  2. metallic hydrogen.
  3. Core, presumably stone.

Of course, it is not possible to obtain accurate data due to the characteristics of the celestial body, but space devices sent directly closeness, made it possible to record more or less specific information at least about outer atmosphere.


Jupiter makes a revolution around his axes just for 10 earth hours, which makes it in this regard not only the most massive, but also fast planet of the solar system. However, the orbit is so large that one revolution around the sun lasts 12 years. Because of its size, Jupiter has an extremely powerful gravity, so approaching comet at a distance of 15 thousand kilometers was torn apart into many pieces. Plus, the planet has record number of satellites- about 70 objects.

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Who is the largest in the solar system

The largest planet in the solar system is an gas giant -Jupiter. Jupiter known to ancient people as supreme deity of ancient Rome. Interestingly, the wife of God was Juno. Namely, this is the name of the spacecraft that was sent to explore the planet. What strikes us this gas giant:

  • To fill all Jupiter volume, need 1300 planets Earth.
  • If stocks hydrogen and helium was in 80 times more,Jupiter would become a star.
  • Jupiter has small copy of the solar system- 4 months and 67 small satellites.

And also, as it turned out, Jupiter shrinks by 2cm every year. Scientists have found that after his "birth" giant was much bigger and hotter. And it was formed much earlier than Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. These four were formed from substances that throwing gas planets into space.

Mystery of the planet - the great red spot

Jupiter It has amazing coloring. And all thanks winds that blow up 650 kilometers per hour. And here from the sky in the form of rain fall diamonds. In addition to this wealth, on Jupiter constantly rages Hurricane, whose diameter is 3 times the size of the Earth. From space it looks like giant red spot. It either increases or decreases, and Colour still remains a mystery to scientists.


Powerful giant magnetic field

A magnetic field this "god of the planets" more than 20,000 times Earth's. The electrically charged particles of this field are constantly at war with other planets, constantly attacking them. BUT Jupiter radiation can inflict damage even good protected spacecraft. Jupiter also has three rings, although they are not as bright as those of Saturn.


And also Jupiter like a real supreme god, protects planets from comets and asteroids. Its gravitational field affects asteroids and changes their orbits. Because of this, we are still alive today.

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The planet Jupiter was first seen 400 years ago. Then only the first telescopes appeared, and through them it was possible to see this planet. The planet Jupiter conquers with its volume, scale. It is the largest planet in the solar system in terms of volume, mass, and area.

By the way, there are planets that are 15 times larger than Jupiter, but this is only in theory. The planet was named Jupiter by the Romans, in honor of the supreme deity.

The largest planet in the solar system: interesting facts about Jupiter

It is one of the largest gas giants. Divided into the inner space, and the atmospheric layer. The air is filled with 90% hydrogen and 10% helium. The planet also has methane, silicon and ammonia. Small amounts of carbon, oxygen, neon, phosphine are present.

The interior of the planet houses dense materials. A mixture of liquid hydrogen with helium and an outer layer of molecular hydrogen is called the core. It's not clear yet, but some believe the core could be rocky.

Even 20 years ago, the question of the core was raised. It was assumed that it can reach from 12 to 45 Earth masses and cover from 4 to 14% of the mass of Jupiter. The closer you are to the core, the higher the temperature and pressure become. Near the core, the temperature reaches 35700 degrees and about 4000 GPa, on the very surface it is 67 degrees and 10 BAR.

Near Jupiter there is a family of 67 moons. Galileo Galilei discovered 4 of the largest in the distant past. This is:

  • Io (active volcanoes);
  • Europa (subsurface ocean);
  • Ganymede (largest moon);
  • Callisto (underground ocean).

Auroras are observed near the north and south poles.

The largest planet in the solar system: top 8 planets

  • Mercury is the smallest planet in the solar system. But it is closest to the Sun. There is no season change on this planet, because the axis of rotation is perpendicular to the rotation of the Sun. It is somewhat similar to the moon, the surface is rocky, covered with craters, such as on the moon. Like the Moon, Mercury has no atmosphere. This planet occupies the 8th place;
  • Mars - Unlike Mercury, Mars is in 4th place from the Sun. She is also rocky like Mercury. This planet has been visited many times by terrestrial spacecraft. By the way, Mars rovers are working there now. The average temperature on Mars is -153 degrees. This planet occupies the 7th place;
  • Venus - she is also called the "sister of the Earth." It is closer to the Sun than the Earth, but this is not very important. The average temperature is +470 degrees. Carbon dioxide is used instead of oxygen. This planet occupies the 6th place;
  • The Earth is in 3rd place from the Sun. The only planet where life boils. 70% of the planet is covered with water. This planet occupies the 5th place;
  • Neptune is the most distant of all the largest planets. Neptune is 17 times heavier than Earth and has a larger diameter. In 1846, astronomers calculated this planet, and then looked at it through a telescope. This planet occupies the 4th place;
  • Uranus is the 3rd planet of all the big ones. The average temperature is -220 degrees. It is named after an ancient Greek god, not a Roman god like most others. It has 27 satellites in its orbit. This planet occupies the 3rd place;
  • Saturn - this planet is also one of the largest. Saturn has the largest number of satellites, about 62. This planet occupies 2nd place;
  • Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Gas giant. The average temperature is about -140 degrees. Jupiter has many moons that can be seen with any binoculars, the most popular being Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto.

Our solar system is one of the components of the galaxy. Here the Milky Way stretches for hundreds of thousands of light years.

The central element of the solar system is the sun. Eight planets revolve around it (the ninth planet, Pluto, was excluded from this list, since its mass and gravitational forces do not allow it to be on a par with other planets). However, each planet is not like the next. Among them there are both small and truly huge, icy and red-hot, consisting of gas and dense.

The largest planet in the Universe is TrES-4. It was discovered in 2006 and is located in the constellation Hercules. A planet called TrES-4 orbits a star that is about 1,400 light-years away from planet Earth.


The planet TrES-4 itself is a ball that consists mainly of hydrogen. Its size is 20 times the size of the Earth. The researchers claim that the diameter of the discovered planet is almost 2 times (more precisely, 1.7) the diameter of Jupiter (it is the largest planet in the solar system). The temperature of TrES-4 is about 1260 degrees Celsius.

According to scientists, there is no solid surface on the planet. Therefore, you can only dive into it. It is a mystery how the density of the substance of which this celestial body is composed is so low.

Jupiter

The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, is located at a distance of 778 million kilometers from the Sun. This planet, the fifth in a row, is a gas giant. The composition is very similar to the sun. By at least, its atmosphere is predominantly hydrogen.



However, under the atmosphere, the surface of Jupiter is covered with an ocean. Only it does not consist of water, but boiling hydrogen rarefied under high pressure. Jupiter is spinning very fast, so fast that it is elongating along its equator. Therefore, unusually strong winds are formed there. The appearance of the planet because of this feature is interesting: in its atmosphere, clouds elongate and form diverse and colorful ribbons. Whirlwinds appear in the clouds - atmospheric formations. The largest are over 300 years old. Among them is the Great Red Spot, which is many times the size of the Earth.

Elder Brother of the Earth


It is worth noting that the planet's magnetic field is huge, it occupies 650 million kilometers. This is much larger than Jupiter itself. The field partially extends even beyond the orbit of the planet Saturn. Jupiter currently has 28 moons. At least that much is open. Looking at the sky from Earth, the farthest one looks smaller than the Moon. But the largest satellite is Ganymede. However, astronomers are especially interested in Europe. It has a surface in the form of ice, moreover, it is covered with stripes-cracks. Their origin still causes a lot of controversy. Some researchers believe that under the balls of ice, where the water does not freeze, there may be primitive life. Far few places in the solar system are honored with such an assumption. Scientists plan to send drilling rigs to this satellite of Jupiter in the future. This is necessary just to study the composition of water.

Jupiter and its moons through a telescope


According to the modern version, the Sun and the planets formed from the same gas and dust cloud. Here, Jupiter accounted for 2/3 of the entire mass of the planets of the solar system. And this is clearly not enough for thermonuclear reactions to take place in the center of the planet. Jupiter has its own source of heat, which is associated with the energy from the compression and decay of matter. If the heating was only from the Sun, then the upper layer would have a temperature of about 100K. And judging by the measurements - it is equal to 140K.

It is worth noting that the atmosphere of Jupiter is 11% helium, and 89% hydrogen. This ratio makes it similar to the chemical composition of the Sun. The orange color is due to the compounds of sulfur and phosphorus. For people, they are detrimental, as there is acetylene and poisonous ammonia.

Saturn

It is the next largest planet in the solar system. Through a telescope, you can clearly see that Saturn is more flattened than Jupiter. There are bands on the surface parallel to the equator, but they are less distinct than those of the previous planet. Numerous and dim details are visible in the stripes. And it was from them that the scientist William Herschel was able to determine the period of rotation of the planet. It's only 10 hours and 16 minutes. Saturn's equatorial diameter is slightly smaller than Jupiter. However, in terms of mass, it is three times inferior to the largest planet. In addition, Saturn has a low average density - 0.7 grams per square centimeter. This is because the giant planets are made up of helium and hydrogen. In the bowels of Saturn, the pressure is not the same as on Jupiter. The surface temperature is close to the temperature at which methane melts.



Saturn has elongated dark bands or belts along the equator, as well as bright zones. These details are not as contrasting as those of Jupiter. And individual spots are not so frequent. Saturn has rings. The telescope shows "ears" on both sides of the disk. It has been established that the rings of the planet are the remains of a huge circumplanetary cloud that stretches for millions of kilometers. Stars are visible through the rings that revolve around the planet. The inner parts rotate faster than the outer ones.

Saturn through a telescope


Saturn has 22 moons. They have the names of ancient heroes, for example, Mimas, Enceladus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Tethys, Dione, Prometheus. The most interesting of them: Janus - he is the closest to the planet, Titan - the largest (the largest satellite in the solar system in terms of mass and size).

Movie about Saturn


All satellites of the planet, with the exception of Phoebe, turn in the forward direction. But Phoebe is moving in orbit in the opposite direction.

Uranus

The seventh planet from the Sun in the solar system, therefore, is poorly lit. It is four times the diameter of the Earth. Some details on Uranus are difficult to distinguish due to the small angular dimensions. Uranus rotates around its axis, lying on its side. Uranus orbits the Sun in 84 years.



The polar day at the poles lasts 42 years, then the night of the same duration begins. The composition of the planet is a small amount of methane and hydrogen. According to indirect signs, there is helium. The density of the planet is greater than that of Jupiter and Saturn.

Traveling the planets: Uranus and Neptune


Uranus has planetary narrow rings. They consist of separate opaque and dark particles. The radius of the orbits is 40-50 thousand kilometers, the width is from 1 to 10 kilometers. The planet has 15 moons. Some of them are external, some are internal. The most distant and largest are Titania and Oberon. Their diameter is about 1.5 thousand kilometers. The surfaces are pitted with meteorite craters.
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- Jupiter. Even in ancient Greece, scientists managed to find out that this celestial body is the largest in the solar system. It was believed that Jupiter is the god of the sky, that is, the father of all gods. The planet was worshipped. The radius of this planet is 11 times greater than that of the Earth. The approximate mass of Jupiter is 1.8986*1027 kg. Therefore, it is 318 times heavier than our planet. A distinctive feature is also a hurricane-anticyclone, which has been orbiting a celestial body for more than 350 years.


Planets in the solar system ranked by size

142.8 thousand km

The largest planet in the solar system- Jupiter. Even in ancient Greece, scientists managed to find out that this celestial body is the largest in the solar system. It was believed that Jupiter is the god of the sky, that is, the father of all gods. The planet was worshipped. The radius of this planet is 11 times greater than that of the Earth. The approximate mass of Jupiter is 1.8986*1027 kg. Therefore, it is 318 times heavier than our planet. A distinctive feature is also a hurricane-anticyclone, which has been orbiting a celestial body for more than 350 years.

120.6 thousand km


At a distance of 1.4 billion kilometers from the Sun is the second largest planet called Saturn. In diameter, the size of a celestial body is 120,600 kilometers. The radius of Saturn is 58,232 kilometers. It is known that the length of the day on this planet is 10.7 hours. Therefore, one year is equal to 29 Earth years. This is how long it takes Saturn to make a complete revolution around the Sun. It should be added that the planet does not have a solid surface. It is a kind of gas giant, because the atmosphere consists of helium and hydrogen.

51.1 thousand km


Uranus closes the top three largest planets in the solar system. The radius is 25,362 kilometers. In diameter, the giant planet reaches 51,137 kilometers. This is about 4 times the diameter of the Earth. For all the time, only one satellite calledVoyager 2. For about 37 years, the device has been providing images. Thanks to these photographs and the research work of astronomers, we know that a day on Uranus is 17 hours long. The planet revolves around the Sun in 84 Earth years.

49.2 thousand km


It's about about the smallest celestial body in the solar system, which is the most distant from the Sun. The diameter of the planet is only 3.5 times the size of the Earth. It is worth noting that Neptune is an ice giant, because the rays practically do not reach it. It is covered with ice floes and a cold cyclone of winds, the speed of which is simply astonishing 600 m/s. At the same time, the planet is 17 times heavier than ours. The surface of Neptune is almost impossible to reach due to supersonic winds that sweep away everything in its path. Therefore, the planet is less studied than the rest.

12.7 thousand km


Ours is one of the largest planets in the solar system. The Earth is the third giant located from the Sun. At the same time, the celestial body is the only one where life has been found. Of course, the presence of life forms is due to a favorable location. Closer to Venus, the water turns into steam, because it is very hot. A little further there are strong winds and frosts. Close to 70% of the entire planet is covered by oceans. It is the atmosphere of the earth that protects us from meteorites that burn up in it. Well, one more fact: the moon is in the same conditions as the Earth, only there is no life on it.

12.1 thousand km


Often this planet is called the sister of the Earth, due to the similarity in size. In addition, celestial bodies have similar features in terms of internal structure. However, Venus is closer to the sun, and it is inferior in diameter to our planet. Despite the similarity, Venus is not suitable for human life, because instead of oxygen, carbon dioxide is here. There are many poisonous clouds of chlorine and sulfur. The temperature is 475 degrees above zero. Also an important factor is the pressure of 92 atmospheres.