Ham Radio, Communications, Radio News, Space, Radio History, Categories
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Universe, Galaxies and Solar System |
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 Each galaxy can contain potentially billions of stars or suns. The Earth's sun is part of the Milky Way galaxy. The Earth's sun is at the center of our Solar System. The Solar System includes all the planets that revolve around the Sun, and the moons that revolve around the planets. Our solar system consists of 9 planets that revolve around the Sun. These planets, listed from the closest to farthest from the Sun, are: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. |
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Mercury |
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| Mercury is the closest
planet to the Sun. It is a small planet, not much larger
than the Earth's moon.
Because Mercury is so close to
the Sun, its surface is very hot. The surface temperature
can reach 770 degrees Fahrenheit. Mercury has no
atmosphere, or air, and does not support life. The surface of Mercury is covered with craters, and looks much like the Earth's moon. |
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Venus |
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 This atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, with a little oxygen, water and sulfur dioxide. It has an atmospheric pressure 90 times greater than Earth, about the same as being one half a mile beneath the ocean surface. The surface temperature of Venus is about 480 degrees Celcius. |
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Earth |
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 The Earth's atmosphere is ideal for supporting life. Most of the Earth's surface
is covered with water. From the sky, the Earth appears blue. Earth is the only
inner planet in our solar system that has liquid water on its surface. Seventy
percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water. Mountains, volcanoes,
deserts, plains, and valleys cover the remaining 30 percent. Earth has an
atmosphere made up of many different gases. The atmosphere gives us air to
breathe. We live on the planet Earth. Each day on the Earth takes 23.93 hours (that is, it takes the Earth 23.93 hours to
rotate around its axis once .). Each year on the Earth takes 365.26 Earth days (that
is, it takes the Earth 365.26 days to orbit the Sun once). |
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Mars |
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 Mars has a thin atmosphere, with water, wind and clouds. Being further from the Sun than Earth, water on Mars is in the form of ice. There is not much air on Mars. The air itself is mostly carbon dioxide (CO2), not nitrogen and oxygen like Earth. |
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 For years, people believed that their may be life on Mars. This is because the Mars atmosphere is similar to Earth. So far, the unmanned space missions to Mars have not detected any signs of life. |
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Jupiter |
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 Speculation is that if Jupiter were larger, it might have been a sun. Jupiter has atleast 16 moons orbiting it, much like the planets revolving around the Sun. The four largest moons are Ganymede, Callisto, Io and Europa. The moon Ganymede is even larger than the planet Mercury. |
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Saturn |
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 Saturn has at least 15 moons. The moon Titan is one of the largest moons in the solar system, about the size of the planet Mercury. |
Saturn's Rings |
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Uranus |
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 Uranus' rotation is different from that of the other planets. Rathering than spinning like a top as it circles the Sun, Uranus rolls like a barrel. |
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Neptune |
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| Neptune is the 8th planet
from the Sun. It is a little smaller than Uranus, but
almost 4 times larger than Earth.
It is about 4.5
billion kilometers, or 2.8 billion miles, from the Sun.
It takes almost 165 years to go once around the Sun. Neptune appears to have clouds, but is so far from Earth that little is known about this palnet. |
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Pluto |
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 Pluto is a relatively recent discovery. It was not discovered until 1930. Pluto is about one-fifth the size of Earth. About the size of the Earth's moon. Pluto is quite different from the other distant planets like Jupiter, Neptune and Uranus. It is not a gas planet. It is made of mostly rock and ice. Pluto is 5.9 billion kilometers from the Sun, and takes over 247 years to go once around the Sun. Although Pluto is usually the farthest from the Sun, its orbit is very elongated. At times, it is closer to the Sun than Neptune. Like Neptune, Pluto is too far away to learn much about it. |
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