The document provides information about the outer planets and dwarf planets in our solar system. It discusses Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, describing their physical characteristics like size, composition, and orbital periods. It notes that all four gas giants have no solid surface and visiting them would be dangerous due to extreme pressure and radiation. The document also covers dwarf planets Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Haumea, and Makemake, summarizing their sizes, orbital periods, and unique features like Pluto's oval orbit and Haumea's fast rotation.
5. Jupiter: King of the Planets
Jupiter, the most massive planet in our
Solar System. About 1,300 Earths could fit
inside. It has now 63 moons. The planets
swirling cloud stripes are punctuated by
massive storms such as the Great Red Spot.
It takes 12 Earth years to orbit around the sun
and 10 hours for complete 1 rotation. Its stripy
appearance is due to dark zones of falling gas
and light zones of rising gas.
6. What is it like on Jupiter?
Jupiter is not a nice place to visit. It
is a giant ball of gas. There is nowhere to
land. Any spacecraft or person passing
through the colorful clouds get crushed
and melted. On Jupiter, the pressure is so
strong; it squishes gas to liquid. It is
mostly hydrogen and helium. There is a
dangerous radiation too.
8. Saturn: Jewel of Our Solar System
Adorned with thousands of beautiful
ringlets, Saturn is unique among planets. Its
rings are made up of chunks of ice and rock.
It has 56 moons. 88% of its atmosphere is
Hydrogen and 11% is Helium. It is 1.435
billion kms from the sun and it takes 29.46
Earth years to complete 1 revolution.
9. What is it like on S
What is it like on Saturn?
Saturn is a lot like Jupiter. It is made
up mostly of gas, including hydrogen,
helium and methane, It doesn’t have a solid
surface. The pressure --- the same kind you
feel when you dive into deep end of a pool -
-- it is so powerful it squeezes gas into
liquid. Even a metal spacecraft would be
smashed. It is not a nice place for humans.
11. Uranus: The Sideways Planet
Uranus is the only giant planet whose
equator is nearly at right angles to its orbit.
A collision with an Earth-sized object may
explain the unique tilt. It is 2.857 billion kms
away from the sun and it takes 84.01 Earth
years to complete a revolution. Its
temperature is mainly -200ÂşC.
12. What is it like on Uranus?
Uranus is very cold, windy, and like most
of the other planets, poisonous to humans.
There is nothing to land on. The air –
atmosphere – gets thicker and thicker until it is
squished into liquid. That is called pressure.
Uranus is extremely cold at the cloud tops. But
deeper down there is a layer of superheated
water, ammonia and methane.
14. Neptune: The Windiest Planet
Neptune is the fourth largest planet
in the Solar System. About 60 Earths
could fit inside. Neptune is named for the
Roman god of sea. It is 4.888 billion kms
away from the Sun and it takes 164.8
Earth years to complete a revolution.
Neptune gets its blue color from a layer
of methane gas above the clouds.
15. What is it like on Neptune?
Windy. Neptune may be the windiest
planet in the Solar System. Winds tear through
the clouds at more than 1,200 mph (2,000
kph). The winds blew Neptune’s Great Dark
Spot –- a storm as big as Earth. Scientists
think there might be an ocean of super hot
water under Neptune’s clouds. It does not boil
away because of the incredible pressure.
18. Ceres
Discovered in 1801 by Giuseppi Piazzi
and first thought to be a planet ant then an
asteroid, and we now call a dwarf planet. It is
found within the Asteroid belt. Gravitational
forces from Jupiter billions of years ago
prevented it from becoming a full-fledged
planet. There may even be water ice buried
under Ceres’ crust.
20. Pluto: King of the Kuiper Belt
Pluto was discovered in 1930 and known
as the ninth planet. But today, it is considered
as a dwarf planet. On average, Pluto is more
than 3.6 billion miles away from the Sun. It
orbits the Sun in an oval racetrack. Because of
its oval orbit, Pluto is sometimes closer to the
Sun than at the other times. It takes 248 Earth
years to complete a revolution.
21. Why is Pluto not called a Planet
anymore?
In 2003, an astronomer saw a new object
beyond Pluto. The astronomer thought he had
found a new planet. The object he saw was
larger than Pluto. He named the object Eris.
Finding Eris caused other astronomers to talk
about what makes a planet a “planet”. There is a
group of astronomers that names objects in
space. This decided that Pluto was not really a
planet because of its size and location in space.
23. Eris
Eris is one of the largest known as
dwarf planets in Solar System. It is about
the same size as Pluto. Eris was found in
2003. It is three times farther out than
Pluto. One trip around the Sun takes 557
Earth years. Eris has a very small moon
called Dysnomia.
25. Haumea
Oddly-shaped Haumea is one of the
fastest rotating large objects in the Solar
System It completes a turn on its axis every 4
hours. The quick spin elongated the dwarf
planet into the unique shape astronomers
discovered in 2003. It has 2 known moons: the
Hi’aka and Namaka. It takes 285 Earth years
for Haumea to complete a revolution.
27. Makemake
Makemake was first observed in March
20005 by M. E. Brown, C. A. Trujillo, and D. L.
Rabinowitz at the Palomar Observatory. Along
with fellow dwarf planets Pluto and Haumea,
Makemake is located in the Kuiper belt. It
takes 310 Earth years for it to make a
complete revolution. Astronomers found signs
of frozen nitrogen on Makemake’s surface.