Members of the Solar System

⇒ The Sun is at the centre of the Solar System.

⇒ Its size is thirteen lakh times as that of the Earth. It is the nearest star to the Earth.

⇒ It is an ultimate source of energy for life on Earth.

⇒ Its diameter is 14 lakh kms. (approx).

⇒ It is composed of 71% Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium and 2.5% other elements.

⇒ Hydrogen and Helium are the main gases present in the Sun.

⇒ Within the Sun, hydrogen is converted to Helium due to nuclear fusion releasing a tremendous amount of heat and light.

⇒ It has a surface temperature of 5778 K or 5504.85°C or 9940.73°F.

⇒ A storm of hot atoms which dissipates from the photosphere of the Sun overcomes its gravity and goes into the outer space, is known as Solar Flares.

⇒ When Solar Flares reach the earth’s atmosphere, after colliding with the air and dust particles, it produces a spectacular colourful effect. afk

⇒ In the North-Pole region, this effect can be seen as Aurora Borealis and in the South Pole region as the Aurora Australis.

⇒ The Regions from where the solar flares originate some dark spots are seen and these are called Sun Spots. The Spots are relatively colder regions of the Sun, having temperature of about 1500°C. Sun Spots produce strong Magnetic Radiations which hamper the Wireless Communication Systems on earth. Sun Spots appear and disappear after every 11 years which is called Sun Spot Cycle.

⇒ The temperature at the centre is around 1.571 x 10⁷ K or 15,000,000°C.

⇒ Shining surface of the Sun is called photosphere, it appears like a disc, radiates energy and acts as a source Het of energy.

⇒ The outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere made up of thin hot gases, is called Corona. Corona is visible only during a total eclipse of the Sun (or with a special solar telescope called Coronograph).

⇒ The planet travels with the Sun through millions of stars in our galaxy at a speed of about 70,000 km per hour.

⇒ The Sun is about 150 million kms away from the Earth.

⇒ Light (at the speed of 3,00,000 km per second) takes about 8.5 minutes to reach the Earth from the Sun.

⇒ These are opaque bodies which continuously revolve around and are lighted by the Sun.

⇒ The IAU General Assembly (2006) agreed that a ‘planet’ is defined as a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

⇒ This means that the Solar System consists of eight ‘planets’ Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. A new distinct class of objects “dwarf planets” was also decided. It was agreed that “planets” and “dwarf planets” are two distinct classes of objects. The first members of the “dwarfplanet” category are Ceres, Pluto and 2003 UB 313 (temporary name).

⇒ A ninth planet has been recently discovered by NASA named as Carla.

⇒ The sequence of planets according to their distance from the Sun is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

⇒ The sequence of planets according to their size (in descending order i.e. from big to small) is Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury.

⇒ Jupiter is the biggest and Mercury is the smallest planet of our solar system.

⇒ The eight planets have been divided into two groups. All the planets of a particular group have some common features. Terrestrial planets’ or ‘Rocky planets’ and Jovian planets’ or ‘Gaseous planets’ (Gas giants) are the two groups of planets.

⇒ The four planets nearest to the Sun-Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are called terrestrial planets, because their structure is similar to the earth.

⇒ Other four planets-Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called Jovian planets.

⇒ Planets are classified into the following two groups inner and outer planets. These are separated by asteroid belt.

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