Interesting facts about the Solar system The Solar system > Interesting facts about the Solar system While on Earth, we can observe the changes taking place in the sky due to the fact that the atmosphere of our planet is sufficiently transparent.
Even in ancient times, observers noticed the movement of planets in the sky and the appearance of rare space objects, for example, comets.
Over the past millennia, many people have believed that the stars control our fate.
In our time, science has studied planets, asteroids and comets that are located at a close distance to the Earth.
What can we learn by studying the Solar System?
Knowledge about the planets and their moons is not clear enough
As you know, at the meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which took place in 2006, it was decided to transfer Pluto from the "planet" class to the newly created class, called "dwarf planets".
But this definition has raised objections among those who believe that there are no dwarf planets or any others that could clear the orbit of asteroids or other space objects encountered along the way.
Satellites make their way in an orbit around the planet, but it is difficult to assume that their orbits coincide with the orbits of asteroids or these planets are double.
In order to understand the causes of such phenomena, a more thorough study of the Solar System is necessary.
The significance of comets and parts of asteroids
By the parts of asteroids, we mean the particles of what the Solar System used to consist of.
In addition to the climate, craters and prospects for the appearance of living beings on celestial bodies, it is also necessary to study smaller bodies.
Comets and asteroids could have brought organic substances and water in the form of ice to our planet - which could have contributed to the appearance of life on it.
The planets are in the same plane and move in orbits in the same direction
By the definition of the IAU, the Solar system includes 8 planets.
The first of them is Mercury, the last is Neptune.
It was determined that the ecliptic of their motion is the same, and the rotation around the Sun has the same direction.
This supports the leading theory of the creation of the Solar system, which claims the formation of planets and satellites from a large cloud containing gas and dust, dense and rotating.
We are quite close to the center of the galaxy
We can measure large distances in the universe using the observation of such a phenomenon as "standard candles" - exploding stars that tend to have the same brightness, which allows us to determine at what distance from us they are.
After carrying out the necessary calculations, it was found out that we are not far from the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
From our system to the center of a supermassive black hole is about 165 quadrillion miles, and, according to NASA, this is good.
The size of the solar system is larger than is commonly believed
It will take a long time to reach the border of the Solar System, leaving the orbit of its most distant planet - Neptune.
In 2012, 35 years after being sent on a flight to the border of the Solar System, Voyager 1 entered the region where the influence of the magnetic attraction created by the Sun ends, and the gas medium has a different composition corresponding to the space separating the stars.
It was at an amazing distance - 11 billion.
miles or 17 billion km - from the Earth, which is about 118 equivalent distances from the Earth to the Sun (in astronomical units)
The sun has a huge mass
The fact that 96.86% of the total mass of the Solar System is concentrated in the star itself, which is a real heavyweight, allows us to realize how massive the Sun is.
The sun consists of hydrogen and helium, which means that these gases are the most common both in our region and in the entire Universe compared to the types of rocks known to us on Earth.
The search for life in our system is not over yet
We know for sure about the existence of life on Earth, which does not exclude its presence on other celestial bodies.
According to astrobiologists, one of these candidates is Mars, on the plains of which water flowed many years ago, and at the poles it is available in the form of ice.
Some moons, for example, Europa (a satellite of Jupiter) and Enceladus (a satellite of Saturn), have ice, and there may be oceans in which the presence of living beings is possible.
Of great interest is the surface of Titan, on which the presence of organic compounds - "prebiotic chemistry", which precedes the appearance of living matter, is found.
To study exoplanets, you can use knowledge about the Solar system
Exoplanets are located at a very distant distance and are so small in our telescopes that it makes it difficult to understand many of the details seen in their atmosphere.
But, knowing the chemical composition of Jupiter, for example, we can assume what composition the gas giants far from us have.
The parameters of the Earth and Neptune allow us to get a better idea of the range of sizes of planets on which life can exist (sometimes referred to as "super Earth" and "mini Neptune").
And even knowing where water freezes in our Solar system can help us determine which objects in space may have ice.
Facts about the Solar System Interesting facts about the Solar System; Formation of the Solar system
The largest objects of the Solar system; How many satellites are there in the Solar System
How the Solar System was formed
the system;
the system;
The largest satellite in the
Geocentric model of the Solar system
The Solar system;
the system;
The smallest satellite in the
Heliocentric model
The Solar system;
The Solar system;
How many stars are there in the Solar System;
Solar Nebula Theory;
Dimensions of the Solar System;
Solar Nebula;
The age of the Solar System;
